


9 Crimes

by httpsigh



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 20:17:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3622881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/httpsigh/pseuds/httpsigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"this is not the right time to be thinking of you."</p><p>or the one where louis is a demon and harry is an angel and they fall in love. of course it won't be that easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	9 Crimes

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for choosing to read this story! Anyways, I would just like to make it clear that this story is in no way meant or written to offend anyone. Warning that there will be a brief mention of God and the Devil so if you are very serious about your religion or are easily offended, please do not read this story or please skip the few intro paragraphs. Also, the only thing that belongs to me in this story is the idea behind it. Thanks!

It was true.

There was a god and there was a devil, though the story of how both beings came to be is a bit twisted.

God believed the humans he created were pure and could do no wrong. He believed they were as close to perfect that he could get. A few of the angels were not happy to hear of something greater than them, them who served and worshipped God from the very beginning. To add fuel to the fire, the angels began to notice that the humans were, in fact, not perfect. They sinned and made mistakes far more than the angels did but God overlooked this and made no change in his beliefs. In fact, he rewarded the humans with more sources of food and water. Most angels would dwell in the anger in private but one, however, decided to confront God, himself.

This angel's name was Lucifer. Surprisingly, he was one of God's favorite and most trustworthy angels. He often helped God with important tasks and decisions and only he held that privilege. Due to his loyalty, this angel was greatly blessed with the most beautiful features, delicate yet full of youth. When Lucifer finally spoke his mind, it was an understatement to say God was shocked. He was horrified, he was angered.

"We are better than them!" Lucifer exclaimed, motioning down the Earth filled with humans below him.

"You are not greater if you believe so," God said calmly, only angering Lucifer more.

"But we are! You treat them as if they are perfect, but they are not! They sin and commit crimes, they slay the beasts you created!"

"If it is a way of survival, I see no problem with it. It is the circle of Life."

But Lucifer did not give up so easily. He continued to argue until God had had enough.

"You are no longer welcome here!" his voice boomed, causing every angel to shrink and feel pity for Lucifer, "You have disgraced the entire angel clan today and I hope you are ashamed. I am banishing you from the land of Heaven and instead to another land, where you will suffer for doubting my judgement. As punishment, your wings will be replaced."

Lucifer began to protest once more, begging for God to let him stay. But God turned away, claiming that Lucifer had shown that he was not loyal and he could no longer be trusted. His beautiful, grand white wings had been replaced with an ugly blood red pair that hardly functioned. Least to say, Lucifer was mortified to be degraded in front of so many angels.

He no longer wanted to stay in Heaven and made no more protests to be sent away. Lucifer was furious for what God had done to him after serving him so well for many years. Lucifer wanted revenge and revenge he would get. When he was tossed off Heaven, he hurtled towards the unknown. He crashed into something, igniting a colossal fire. No matter how many times he tried to put it out, it was no use. The fire was permanent. Over time, Lucifer grew accustomed to the heat and even began to love the way the colors of the fire matched his torn wings. Though years had slipped away, Lucifer's anger towards God had not. First, he composed a new name for himself; a name that sounded just as mighty as God- his name was the Devil. He began to create angel like creatures, which shared the same wings but worked better than his own. These creatures were beautiful; with their pale skin and magically colored eyes, nothing could resist them. Lucifer sent his minions off to Earth, where they would try to turn humans away from God and cause them to commit sins. He wanted God to see that his perfect humans weren't so perfect after all.

Eventually, God noticed the sudden rise of sinners and investigated. He found out demons had somehow made their way to his precious Earth. His greatest fear had come true.

As a form of defense, God formed a certain type of angel that was corresponding to the newly developed demons. They each bared pale skin and eye colors that shimmered. Their white large wings were smaller in size but still held the same strength as any other angel's pair. God had made it impossible for demons to recognize an angel just as angels couldn't recognize a demon. Their duty was to stop sinners from committing. They were the voice in people's heads, the one humans should turn too. But their jobs would be hard as the Devil's demons were strong and manipulative, giving the humans exactly what they wanted. The demons were naturally charming and were hard to push way, which meant God had finally met his match. Somehow, the Devil had reached God's level of magic. He had brought into existence creatures that could destroy purity and innocence.

God was worried.

He had to place all his faith into the humans and trust them to not turn their backs on him, trust them to do the right thing. And God knew, some would not. Some would become filled with greed and envy and do anything to fulfill their desires. Some would become egoistic just as Lucifer had. God knew then that he would lose a few of his followers to the Devil.

***

His wings haven't come in yet and his mother is starting to worry.

Zayn's have come in. Liam's have as well. But Harry remains wingless.

"Don't worry, they'll come in soon," Liam says in attempt to comfort the sulking eight year old Harry.

"Yeah, I'll bet they'll be here in a month!" Zayn exclaims, desperate to see his curly haired friend smiling once more. Harry shyly looks up, his emerald green eyes filling with hope.

"You really think so?" he asks, biting his lip.

"Yup!" Zayn grins. Liam silently nod, unable to know surely if Harry's wings will have come by then.

They don't. Harry doesn't talk to Zayn for a week for it. Liam finally manages to get the two of them to patch things up, having a strange level of maturity for his young age. 

Another month passes and Harry grows more depressed as he watched dozens of kids around him flit around, excited for their new wings. His friends try to play games with him that don't require wings but it's all a bore to Harry. He spends most of his time indoors, listening to his mother's lessons instead of outside playing. Harry's friends notice his sadness about his lack of wings but they never bring it up. They never tell their parents about it either and instead keep it between themselves, hoping one morning Harry will wake up with his wings.

The years pass and Harry moves up in his levels of knowledge alongside his friends but he continues to not have wings. Angels are beginning to talk, growing concerned and worried over the smart but wingless angel.

It isn't until Harry's eighteenth birthdays do his wings finally sprout. At first it feels like he's got a Charlie horse cramp in his shoulder blades and he bites on his pillow to keep from yelling out in pain. But when he wakes the next morning, he's overjoyed to find two large feather covered wings blooming from his sore back. He runs down the stairs.

"Mum! Mum!" he screeches, "My wings! My wings!"

"What is it Harry?" she worriedly asks, rushing into the living room where Harry is crazily flying around. She notices the crisp white wings that formed on her son's back and stares in awe, "Harry, come down here for a moment."

She examines the wings, placing her hands delicately on every part. Her fingertips graze over all the white, clean feathers, her mouth slightly falling open.

"Is there something wrong with them?" Harry nervously asks. His mother shakes her head, chuckling.

"Heavens no! I believe these are the greatest pair of wings I've ever seen," she comments, her attention once again on the new wings, "Perfect form and color..."

"Can I go show Zayn and Liam now?" Harry excitedly asks, already on his way to the door. His mother laughs at his childish behavior but tell him he can go out. Harry flies to his friends' house, soaring by their windows with glee.

"They came! They came!"

"It's about time!" Zayn laughs, "I swear you'll be the best in the game."

Harry blushes at this, "Not too sure about that one, Z."

"No, actually. Harry you know plenty because of how much time you spent your childhood in lessons," Liam butts in, raising his eyebrows because he knows he was right, 

"Speaking of lessons, we should probably get going to ours."

This time, they all fly instead of walking to their class. Everyone is surprised to see Harry with wings but they are more surprised with the beauty of them. Harry feels his cheeks burning as he caught a few angels staring.

"Alright, class, settle down."

The teacher, Angel Martha, is a kind hearted woman who is just as passionate for her job as when she just started. Her wings have faded from a clean white to a light grey color as she grew older, similar to the color Harry's grandmother's wings hold. She has beautiful dark brown hair that reaches just past her soldiers and brilliantly colored eyes, a bright blue color. Her pale skin is smooth and blemish free. Angel Martha always wears luxury styles dresses, mainly white fabric adorned on her body.

"Today, as our final lesson, we will have it be the most important one you will ever learn," Angel Martha pauses to give her class time to chatter about the dark topic they are about to discuss, "I'm sure you've heard your parents warn you about the demons that haunt our darkest corners?"

Everyone anxiously nods, wanting the angel in the front of the room to tell them all about the demons their parents had mentioned countless times but never bothered to explain.

"The most important thing to know about a demon is they are dangerous. They are manipulative. They are evil in its purest form. They want nothing more than to harm innocent angels, such as everyone in this room. They can be overpowered by an angel, but it is difficult and the one who loses is almost guaranteed death. This happens when a demon and angel are fighting to gain control over the good and bad will of a human."

"How were they made?" an angel in the back of the room asks. Harry believes his name is Andrew though he can't be completely sure. He glances over at Liam and wills himself not to roll his eyes when he sees the angel is taking notes. Zayn, on the other hand, has his eyes closed and his head lolled off to the side. Harry snickers when he sees Liam taking his pen and doodling things on Zayn's hand.

"There was man, whose name is now unspeakable. He created these horrid demons, making it their mission to disrupt the orderly peace that once existed centuries ago. He tempted the human with the things they all craved and all they had to was sin. But God does not take sins lightly and yes, he would forgive but he would not forget. Once someone has committed a certain number of sins, he cannot rest with God. The unnamed is the owner of his soul."

Liam hesitantly raises his hand, now distracted from his doodling on Zayn, "What do the demons look like?"

"They look like us," the elder angel answers grimly, her thin lips settling into a firm frown, "They have beauty that can be found in the most beautiful of angels."

"Has anyone ever fallen in love with a demon?" Harry asks, curious if anyone had ever managed a relationship with the horrid beast being described to him. His teacher is quiet for a moment, racking her brain for any memory about this question. Her eyes widen at the thought that pops into her mind.

"Yes," she finally says, "There was once an angel foolish enough to love a demon. The demon lured the angel into a trap; the demon fooled the angel, claiming it was now pure when in reality he was leading the angel to their death. The demon brought the angel the unnamable himself. The angel was said to be tortured, stripped from his wings and left to burn in the fire."

Everyone's eyes are widened in fear, their mouths slightly parted in shock. Some have shrunk back into their chairs, others' faces are a sickly pale but after a few moments of silence, people begin to recover and return to their normal colors and postures.

"I hope everyone realizes how dangerous these demons are. They are sneaky, they are clever and they will do anything to get what they want. They may try to make you fall in love with them, but don't. They will try to appear vulnerable but don't fall for it. It's hard but we've been training you for years so you're ready to face them."

She pauses for a moment before continuing.

"Remember there are ten rules for angels that go down to Earth. One, never harm another angel. Two, never steal from another angel. Three, always do what is best for yourself and others. Four, become social with the right sort of people. Five, keep your skin pure. Six, stay away from toxic drinks such as alcohol. Seven, never say our lord's name in vain. Eight, do not mingle with demons. Nine, never ever fall in with a demon. Ten, you shall not ever endager the innocent."

Everyone nods their heads to show their understanding.Harry nervously gulps as the teacher begins to end the lesson. He's sure the rest of his class is just as nervous.

"It was lovely having all of you for the past thirteen years! I wish you the best of luck down on Earth!"

Suddenly, everyone is getting out of their seats. Zayn is jerked forward, yelling at the sudden motion. Liam is behind him, sniggering at Zayn's reaction. Grumbling something under his breath, Zayn gets up and follows Liam out the door. Just as Harry is about to leave, Angel Martha call to him.

"Congratulations on the wings, Harry. They're beautiful. Might even be the most beautiful pair I've seen in all my years of teaching."

"Thank you," Harry breathed before rushing out to meet with his two best friends.

"We're going to Earth! Finally!" Liam cheers, his dark brown eyes filled with pure happiness.

Harry laughs, "It'll be so much fun! We'll stick together, yeah?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, my dear Harold," Zayn mock cries, placing a hand over his chest and beginning to kneel.

"Oi! Get up, you idiot," Harry snorts, an amused look on his face.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Zayn feigns shock.

"You bet, and she loves me more for it," Harry winks.

"You're one dirty pig, Styles," Liam comments as they begin the trip back to their houses, where they will bid their parents goodbye before making the departure for Earth.  
Zayn's house is first, followed by Liam's. Harry finishes the walk home alone. He opens the front door to find him mother waiting for him the hallway, a smile lighting up her face. Before Harry can say anything, he is being hugged tightly.

"I'm so proud of you, baby boy. So so proud," his mother's voice is muffles against his neck, "I was a bit worried for a second there that your wings wouldn't come in on time and you would have to stay behind like your sister."

"I'm glad they finally came," Harry agrees, "I'm so happy to go down to Earth and explore! Humans are so fascinating!"

"Promise me you'll be careful," his mother says, worry creeping into her voice.

"I will be. Besides, me, Liam and Zayn have all agreed to stick together as group."

"And I, Harry," Harry's mother corrects, causing Harry to blush at his error, "And that sounds like a fabulous idea. I know those boys will protect you with their lives if anything goes wrong."

"I would do the same for them," Harry adds. His mother gives him a watery smile.

"So proud of you, don't you forget it."

"Never," Harry reassures his mother.

"Now go on! The boys must be waiting for you."

Harry says once last goodbye, kissing his mother on the cheek. He grabs the bag his mother has packed with human clothing and money before running out to meet up Zayn and Liam. They all wear goofy grins, filled with excitement as they near the outer gates of Heaven. The large golden walls begin to part, revealing the edge. Taking a deep breath, each jump off the cloud. They all flap their wings to gain control and land lightly in the area where humans walked. They are all relieved to find they are in an empty alleyway.

As soon as they land, they fold their wings discreetly, tucking them under a jacket or shirt they brought along. They slip of their white garments and each put on human clothing.  
Zayn wears black skinny jeans with a white tee shirt. To hide his wings thoroughly, he slips on a leather jacket. His hair is the same as always, shaved down at its sides and formed into a perfect quiff. On his feet are black combat boots.

Like Zayn, Liam wears black skinny jeans and a white tee shirt. But instead of a black leather jacket, on top he wears a thick flannel that hides the bump of his folded up wings. His hair is cut short, nearly not there. There is thin layer of brown that proves Liam does have hair. Unlike the quiffed boy, Liam's feet have on a pair of all white sneakers, similar to Harry's wings' color.

Harry has on black skinny jeans as well and light brown Chelsea boots. He wears a heathered grey tee shirt along with a denim jacket that has fleece on the inside- faux of course. His curly hair is straighter than it used to be and is styled to go the side, though it's began to grow out and nearly reaches his shoulders.

In all their pants' pockets were their wallets, where there ID and other important papers are stored. The three angels pool their money together and find they have enough just enough for two months’ rent of a small apartment.

Liam takes charge and leads them house hunting. They find a home within the first day and even manage to get the landlord to lower his price, even though the apartment came equipped with furniture. It had nothing to do with their good looks. Nothing at all.

"We'll need to get jobs soon," Liam says as he lays down on the bed. Zayn and Harry agree from their beds, exhausted from their flight down.

"We'll start looking tomorrow," Zayn yawns.

"Sounds good," Harry groans, flipping over to find a comfortable sleeping position.

"I think we should aim for something that doesn't require much dedication so we can focus on why we're mainly here."

"Do you think we should try the human schooling?" Zayn asks.

"I think we should wait a few months and see how we're doing but I see no problem with trying," Liam smiles. Zayn nods, his eyes beginning to shut and is soon soundly asleep. Harry has been asleep for the past two minutes so Liam gets up and shuts of the light before collapsing onto his bed. He's asleep before his head hits the pillow.

*** 

"Louis Tomlinson!" his mother shrieks as the bowl falls from her grip. Louis snickers before running away to the safety of his room. He dives for his bed and fishes out the comic book he keeps stored beneath his pillow. His mother bursts into the room, her eyes filled with anger.

"Louis," she spits, "You are in so much trouble."

"For what Mummy?" he innocently asks, "I was here reading."

"Don't lie to me," she hisses, "You made me drop that bowl. Do you know how much suffering your father went through to be able to afford that?"

"I didn't do anything," Louis lies. His mother's eyes narrow. She takes a few steps toward the younger boy's small bed, her face turning red. Louis nervously clutches the red  
blanket on top of his body. 

"You liar!" she screeches, raising a hand. Louis instantly flinches away but it doesn't do him any good once the hand in brought down to his cheek. He feels tears sting his eyes as  
his red cheek begins to throb, "You worthless brat. Get out."

Little eight year old Louis scrambles from his bed and runs out the front door. He follows everyone to his daily lessons, ignoring the teasing he receives. Inside, Louis is  
frustrated with himself for not being to able push aside the cruel comments and live unaffected.

"What'd you do this time, Lou?" a boy asks, wearing a smirk and thinking he's so clever because he rhymed.

"I heard he ate a shoe," a girl giggles, covering her lips with her petite sized hands. Louis notices they're messily painted red, nearly smearing all over the tips of all her fingers.

"And that he belongs in a zoo," another child laughs. A circle is formed around Louis' small body as they all taunt and laugh at him. Someone shoves Louis forward and he  
crashes into a group of people who shove him backwards. It turns into a game of pushing while people continue to hurl mean names at him.

"Shut up!" he yells, attempting to kick one of the students making fun of him. The crowd only laughs louder. Louis' hands form into fists as he tries to hit another student, not  
aiming for anyone in particular. 

"You don't have the guts to even hit me," someone says but Louis has his eyes closed and runs away. He hates school.

"Louis, pay attention."

It's his nineteenth year of schooling and Louis is ready to leave. He wishes he had been good during his human life so he could have become an angel and actually enjoyed it. He's also heard that angels get let down to Earth when they're seventeen.

Louis wonders a lot about Heaven but he would never share that with anyone, not even Niall. Any mention of Heaven is forbidden where Louis lives. No one has lived to share  
what exactly happens when you say the H word. Louis doesn't want to find out. 

"What do you do if an angel tries to change a human's choice?" the teacher asks. Everyone raises their hand but Louis keeps his down. He doesn't want to answer the horrible question. The teachers grins, overlooking every student, "Louis, why don't you answer this one?"

"You kill them," Louis mumbles, looking down at the floor. Louis' stomach is doing flips, making him feel queasy at just the thought of doing what he answerd with. Meanwhile,  
His teacher is not pleased with his response.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure nobody could hear that. Speak up," she demands.

"You kill them," Louis repeats, his voice trembling but still loud enough for everyone to hear. He wants nothing more than to bury himself beneath the groud or disappear in the fire that surrounded the school.

"Are you sure you're supposed to be a demon?" his teacher asks, "You just don't seem to be made of the right evil..."

Tears burn Louis' vision but he refuses to show any weakness. Instead he gathers the last shreds of courage, anything he can muster and spits out, "I'll be a fucking great demon."

"Language, Tomlinson," his teacher warns, ignoring the snickers in the back of the room. Louis only huffs in response, letting the lesson continue. He doesn't want his teacher to call his mother again. Least to say, his mother was not pleased and Louis was left with two black eyes. 

"What do we do if an angel is about to kill us?" she asks, her eyes landing directly on Louis' shrinking figure, "Louis?"

Louis doesn't respond and instead someone else yells something, but it's not the answer.

"He doesn't know!" a deep voice says, "And even if he did, he wouldn't do it. He's a wimp."

"Tell me something I don't know, Mr. Trevor. Please take your seat," the teacher replies, "Please answer my question, Mr. Tomlinson?"

"You try to overpower them and kill them or you tell them something they're terrified to hear out loud so they live their life knowing about that one thing you said," Louis  
answers, referring directly to the book they were told to study.

"Correct," the teacher says, "But next time, please form an answer of your own and not directly from the textbook. I can easily look in the book if I wanted that answer."

Louis blushes when she says this and hears the rest of the class laugh.

"What a nerd," Lindsay, a girl who think she's the best but really isn't, sneers. Her blonde hair reaches past her breasts and is a flawless color. Her green eyes are speckled with gold and adorned with thick, long eyelashes. 

"He's smarter than you," Niall finally retorts, unable to stay silent anymore as people insult his best friend. People begin to mock shock, making over dramatized gasping noises.

"And uglier too," Brenda, Linsay's best friends, adds. Her appearance is nearly identical to Lindsay's except she has blue eyes similar to Louis'. The whole class is laughing again,  
some hiding behind their hands but others having no problem with getting caught.

"Alright, everyone shut up," their teacher says, eyeing the four (Lindsay, Brenda, Niall and Louis) students with a glare. She lets out a cough before continuing to speak.

"Since this is our last lesson, I don't really see the harm in letting you all out early. Have fun on Earth," the teacher's voice is dull and she looks bored but no one cares as they rush out of the small room.

"It's about time we get out of this hell hole," Niall sighs, dragging Louis to their usual empy space. It's covered with trash but there are two distinct clean spaces where Louis and Niall sit. 

"Nice pun there, meatbag," Louis laughs, adding light to the conversation. He was grateful Niall hadn't joined along with the teasing all those years ago. In fact, when someone had first made fun of him, seven year old Niall punched them square in the face. Ever since then, Niall and Louis had been inseparable. 

"You're funny," Niall says sarcastically, rolling his icy blue eyes, "But actually, we'll be free of our mothers."

"Yeah and up there filling people with evil," Louis says, trying to hide the undertone of sadness. He knows most people see him as weak for not being able to accept the fact that he was evil but it didn't change the way Louis felt. When Louis begins to feel this way, Niall senses it immediately.

"Sometimes I wonder how you're a demon, you're so nice and caring to everyone and everything."

"He's got a point, Tommo," Trevor smirks, "Which only helps prove my point that you'll be the worst demon whose gone to Earth in history."

"Shut up, Trevor," Louis snarls.

"Ooh, feisty today are we?" Trevor laughs, "Remember what happened last time you were feisty?"

Louis shivers at the memory, wishing he could blank out the images from his mind forever. But they were there permanently, etched into his brain like a tattoo. 

\---

"Please! Stop!" Louis cries out in pain as another foot is brought down onto his stomach. As a form of defense, he places his hands over his stomach to try and shield his stomach. 

"Don't talk back to me!" Trevor yells. Louis feels punches being delivered all over his body from Trevor's gang of friends. He feels tears running down his cheeks but it makes no difference to his tormentors. 

"I'm sorry!" Louis screams as he feels something sharp digging into his back, nearly cutting his wings. Within a few seconds, the searing pain lessens. Trevor removes his the blade away from Louis' pale skin, looking at the thick red liquid that covered the sharp edge.

"Consider this a warning, Tommo. Next time, it'll be the wings," is all Trevor says before leaving Louis half-naked, alone and shivering in the alleyway. It's Niall who finds him nearly two hours later. His mother didn' t even notice his absence.

\---

"Let's go, Lou," Niall glares at the other demons before pulling Louis away. Louis is silent, too ashamed to say anything, "And we get away from them."

"Thanks," Louis mumbles, "Don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm sure you would be fine..." Niall trails off, "I just wish you would fight back."

"I can't, you know that," Louis says, "It just doesn't feel right to harm them, no matter what shit they've done to me."

"But you know they deserve it right?"

"No one deserves to be hurt."

"Some people do, you know," Niall says quietly, "You need to realize that."

"I-" Louis begins but is cut off.

"Well, I'll meet you at your house in like ten? I just gotta get my things and say goodbye to me mum."

"See you then," Louis weakly smiles. He then flies to his home, letting out a groan of pleasure as he stretches out his stiff bright red wings. They are torn in random space and black spots too but those appear on everyone's wings so Louis never worried about it. There were times where he hated them, he still does but there’s other things he hates more, he never thinks about his wings. 

"Where are you going?" his mother slurs, having just woken up from her nap.

"I'm leaving today, remember?" Louis reminds her, hurt his mother doesn't even remember the day her own son leaves her. Her expression doesn't change and instead she runs a hand through her messy hair. She readjusts herself on the small couch- to make herself more comfortable.

"Oh right," she says, resting her head on the thin pillow, "Don't die or anything."

She is back asleep before Louis can say thanks. Louis wants to cry because it's sad that's the nicest thing she's ever said to him but instead he goes upstairs and packs his bag with the human clothes Niall helped him pick out last week. He brings out the money he had been hiding and storing behind his pillow and tosses it in the bag. The last thing he needs is his important papers which he has in his dresser drawer. Just as he zips up the bag, he hears a quiet knock on his window. Niall is out there, waiting for Louis to open the window.

"Are you ready?" Niall excitedly asks as he steps through the window.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Louis answers, tossing the bag over his shoulder, "Let's go."

He doesn't wake his mother and doesn't bother to find his father to say goodbye. It wasn't like they would notice he was gone. Luckily, he has Niall to cheer him up. 

Both boys excitedly make their way to the iron gates, walking through the flames that surround them, completely unaffected. The gates open, revealing the pathway to Earth. They both fly up. When they finally get to Earth, they hide behind a large garden and change into their human clothes.

Niall wears medium wash denim trousers along with a graphic tee shirt- a hand with its middle finger shooting up in printed on the shirt it thick black ink. He wears black  
sneakers. His golden blonde hair, tinted due to the fire, is styled up into a quiff, unlike Louis' messy light brown hair. Louis slips on a red and white raglan tee that reads a brand that Louis has never heard off- he liked the design and colors. He wears black jeans and black and white sneakers.

They are unsuccessful with finding an apartment but someone is kind enough to offer them a couch. And it's certainly not because Louis and Niall are good looking. No way.

*** 

Love.

It terrifies Harry. He's terrified he will fall for someone while he's on duty. Everyone knows angels with humans never work. They never do. He's even more worried he will fall for a demon, thinking they are a human. He couldn't bear the shame of not returning to his mother because of a demon. So Harry decides he won't get close to anyone but Zayn and Liam.

But that plan goes out the door when the first year passes. Each boy has a stable job somewhere and a stable group of friends. Though they don't spend as much time together, they have never been closer. They always eat dinner together, unless they have something else planned which they are expected to let the other two know about, and they always make plans to hang out on Saturdays.

Liam has matured but also gotten a bit reckless. He's picked up a few curse words, to Harry's dissaproval, as has Zayn. When Liam had first cussed, Harry had nearly punched him.

"Shit!" Liam yells as the glass plate slipped from his hand an onto the floor.

"Great job, ya git," Zayn says sarcastically. Harry stands to the side, fuming.

"What did you say?" Harry spits. Liam looks at him nervously. Harry rarely gets angry but when he does, he's quite indimidating. His angel wings will begin to spread, a darker white. The paleness his skin usually holds is lost and instead replaced with a redish tint. 

"Shit?" Liam answers weakly, eye widening at the angel wings peeking behind his shoulders. 

"Don't say that," Harry says.

"C'mon," Zayn rolls his eyes, hiding his fear well and attempting to calm Harry down, "We're eighteen, we can say whatever the fuck we want!"

"What your mother would say of she heard you..." Harry shakes his head, his wings folding after a moment. The other boys did curse but they made sure to watch their languange when they were around Harry.

Liam listens to mostly rap music while Zayn listens to R&B. Harry listens to, what Zayn calls, indie hipster bands that no one has heard of. In reality, only Zayn and Liam have never heard of them. Harry's other friends can easily identify songs by them. The variety in music has sometimes resulted in problems on music choices for their apartment but they've always managed to settle it.

The apartment is decorated strangely. It is obvious which boy furbished what. For example, Harry's bed is adorned in white bedding. To the side in a vintage looking nightstand where a light blue record player sits. A stack of records his stored beneath the small table. Dozens of polaroids fill the walls by the long mirror. There a few plants by the window on Harry's side of the room. Clothing is nicely hanging on a rack near the window.

Meanwhile, Zayn's white walls are covered in doodle of sketches from his classes at the local community collage. His clothing messily covers the floor and his bed is nearly always unmade. He's got left over food containers from when he was hungry late at night in the most random places and Liam is fairly certain if they have an ant problem, it will be Zayn's fault.

Liam's corner of the room is slightly neater than Harry's. His clothing is nicely folded away into his drawers. His walls are plastered with rappers and other singers that Harry has never bothered to listen to. On top of his drawer are dozens of snapbacks and differently scented colognes. He knows Zayn and Harry always use the same two bottles but he doesn't stop storing them there. He's a good friend; he won't let his friends stink.  
It's Saturday and Harry is still exhausted from his late shift at a bookshop a few blocks away.

"Who buys a book at three in the morning?" Harry groans, rubbing his eyes the next morning.

"You do," Zayn laughs, referring to when they had first arrived to Earth and Harry was desperate for some reading material though it nearly four. They finally found an opened store and went inside to find a book. The only employee there was asleep so Harry settled himself in a corner and began to read. Meanwhile, Zayn and Liam left to explore the oversized store. When the manager came the next morning, he nearly had a heart attack at the two sleeping boys and the other one still reading the corner.

"Sorry," Harry had apologized, "Just really wanted to read a book."

"You were here the entire night?" the owner's eyes widened.

"Yes, I was bit surprised to even find a 24 hour bookstore," Harry lightly laughed, placing his book back onto the shelf.

"You know, if you're looking for a job, I would like to hire you," the man says suddenly, "I need someone for the late shifts since this one can't seem to do it right."

And that was how Harry got his first job. Zayn ended up working in a popular coffee shop while Liam worked at a restaurant as a waiter. He secretly wanted to be cook but his food wasn't exactly the best (or edible).

"Shut up," Harry frowns.

"What should we do today?" Liam asks, finally sitting up from his bed. He slides out and walks to the kitchen, taking a jug of milk and sipping directly from it.

"That's disgusting," Zayn grimaces, "Remind me to buy a new one before tomorrow."

"We haven't gone out wandering in a while..." Harry thinks aloud, "We could just bring some money but not have any solid plans."

"We can flip a coin to go left or right!" Zayn exclaims, excitement filling his dark brown eyes. Liam laughs, taking another swing from the milk.

"Sounds fun," Liam nods.

"Let's do it then," Harry says, smiling. He walks over to his rack of clothing and doesn't waste a moment to strip himself from his pajamas. Zayn whistles.

"I still don't see how you don't have a girlfriend."

"We are not here for love," Harry mumbles.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't have a little romance," Liam cuts in. He and Zayn had kissed plenty girls and Liam had ever gotten into a brief relationship with girl. The ending was mutual though Liam still felt horrible about the entire thing.

"Maybe someday..." Harry sighs, wishing the other two boys would drop the topic. They got the sign and busied themselves with getting dressed. Liam slips into his usual white tee shirt and denim skinny jeans, throwing on a pair of sneakers and snapback onto his head. Zayn dresses himself in a black tee shirt with some singer's name on it, slim fitting black jeans and his signature black combat boots. Harry wears a flannel with black skinny jeans and all black sneakers.

After four hours pass, all three are in need of some food and a place to sit. As they walk down the street, humans do their usual good deeds- giving a homeless man food, buying a stranger a flower, helping someone with their bags etc. So far, their job has been easy as more humans are easily following God's ways, doing good wherever the angels passed. The boys had realized their wings were invisable to the human eye. They wondered why no one had ever told them but they figured they hadn't been attention in class.

"That place looks good," Zayn points towards a small cafe with not too many people sat out front. They all agree to eat there and make their way towards it. Once inside the cafe,they realize it's much busier. The walls aren't decorate with anything but is a nice, calming beige color. The floors are tiled with nearly the same shade as the walls. There is large counter to order and a fringe filled with refreshments to the side.

"Hello, fellows, what can I get you?" the man behind the register smiles. He's got big, happy and brown eyes and thick mustache. He is friendly and patient as the boys' eyes scan the menu above, settling on a certain food.

The three order their meals together and to eat in the restaurant. They are handed a number and then go to fill their empty cups. Zayn fills his cup with Coca-Cola, Liam drinks Dr. Pepper and Harry gets iced tea. 

Once at their table, Harry starts up the conversation.

"Why have we never been here before, it's really nice?"

 

"I don't know," Liam shrugs, "We haven't been a lot of places."

"Yeah," Zayn agrees, "Which reminds me, Tyler mentioned this great sushi place that we should go to. It's near the-"

Zayn is cut off by the loud sound of glass being broken. Each boy instantly turns to the cause of the sound to see a man with a black mask over his face, a dirtied canvas bag held tightly in his hand.

"Nobody move or I'll shoot!" the man yells, holding up a shiny pistol. Harry's heart stops when he sees his other hand is wrapped tightly around an innocent's child's wrist. The child's dark brown eyes have tears falling from them and marking his red cheeks. His blonde curly hair is messy, as if someone had been yanking on it. He's got a few red marks on his face and a bruise forming on his left cheek.

"Please," a woman begs, her white shirt is torn and her skirt is marked with some sort of red pen, "Just take me, let him go and take me."

“You think I want you?” the man cruelly laughs, “I couldn’t get half the money if I had you!”

"We should do something," Liam whispers.

"You know we can't," Zayn says before Harry can even open his mouth. They can do nothing but watch and hope their presence will cause the man to let the young boy free orsomeone will help the situation.

"Don't take another step closer or I will blow his brains out!" the man yells, bringing the pistol to the boy's temple. Harry flinches at the sudden motion, tears stinging his eyes.

As Zayn stares intently, a woman hesitantly moves towards the man from behind. She takes a step forward, trying to get the gun out of his grip so he would be unable to harm anyone. The woman manages to startle the man and shove him forward. He falls to the floor, along with the boy he's holding on to. The man angrily grows, quickly standing up and yanking the boy with him.

"Fuck you," he spits, pointing the gun towards the woman's left. He pulls the trigger without a sound. The woman falls to the group with a yell of pain, her hand clutching the as rea where the bullet entered.

Harry glances around the area, trying to find the demon causing this to happen. His jade green eyes land on a young boy with blonde hair who wears a surprised look which then returns to a blank look. He is accompanied by a boy who appears the same age as him. But it's not the blonde haired boy who catches Harry's eyes, it's the smaller boy. He's got beautifully blue eyes that are misted with tears and pain as he watches the scene before him unfold.

"Stop it," the boy whimpers, running a hand through his messily styled hair, "Just stop it, Niall."

"You know we have to do this," the other boy, Niall, answers. The blue eyed boy sighs and looks away, trying to hide the single tear that escapes.

"Just let the boy go then," he begs, causing Niall to glance at him. Niall sighs, looking back to the man with the hostage.

"Fine," Niall's voice is quiet. Suddenly, the man throws the child to the floor and aims his gun at the mother.

"Don't move," the man says calmly, his face eerily blank. The mother's face drains of color as she stares at the barrel of the gun being aimed at her. 

"Niall!" the smaller boy nearly shrieks, "You let both of them go, right now! I swear to god I will fucking stab you right now if you don't."

"That's likely," Niall snorts his tone light and not demeaning. The other boy rolls his eyes. 

"I mean it this time," he pouts, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You said that last time," Niall chuckles, ignoring the fiery look the boy gives him. 

"I will hurt you," he says darkly, or at least trying to appear so. Niall only smiles. 

"You wouldn't even hurt a fly, Tommo," says a new voice. Harry doesn't like the way the smaller boy flinches at the voice or the way he looks so scared, nearly terrified.

"Get out of here, Travis," Niall threatens.

"Or what? You going to hurt me?" Travis smirks.

"If that's what it takes," Niall glares. Travis opens his mouth to speak but Niall's friend beats him to it. 

"Please just let him go, Ni," ‘Tommo’ says softly, his eyes once again brimming with tears. Niall looks back at his friend before slowly nodding his head, his blue eyes saddened.

"Take him," the man grunts, lowering his gun. The masked man then looks around when suddenly a black car pulls up, driving away with the armed man inside. The mother is sobbing with happiness as she hugs her son tightly against her chest. People slowly emerge from the bank, their faces filled with terror but relieved to see the robber is gone.

In the distance, police sirens can be heard and are slowly growing louder. Harry looks to his other two friends who looked just as shocked. Both their eyes are still glued the horrifying scene that had unfolded only seconds ago. 

"Was that..." Zayn begins but is unable to finish his sentence. Liam nods his head.

"We just saw our first demon."

"We don't know what he looks like," Zayn sighs.

"I do," Harry says, eyes darting back to place where he had seen the two boys, quietly watching and arguing over the entire scene. But all he ends up seeing is a head of chestnut colored hair before it's gone. 

*** 

"It was an angel!"

"No it was not."

"It was too!"

"Niall, you're crazy."

"It had to be! There's no way a human could have messed me up like that! You saw, I was in full control of situation and only something as powerful as an angel could have done that!"

"Do you really think it's wise to be talking so loudly about something so secretive?"

"I hate you," Niall huffs, taking a sip of the chocolate milkshake in front of him. Both boys are sat in a booth an almost empty diner. The place is decorated in bright red, white and black colors. There's a juke box on the far wall of the restaurant and the waitress is dressed in fashion from decades ago.

"Besides, don't you think the angels would have done something if they say us?"

"Maybe they didn't," Niall suggest, plucking a fry from their shared tray. Louis does the same but dips his in ketchup, unlike Niall.

"We'll never know," Louis laughs, tossing the fry into his mouth. Niall's blue eyes hold determination in them but Louis isn't sure for what.

"Do something," Niall says suddenly. Louis knows exactly what he's talking about and doesn't know why Niall is even bothering to ask him.

"No," Louis answers instantly.

"We've been here for nearly half a year and you've done barely four evil things and for the tattoos, I had to get you drunk of your ass!" Niall exclaims. A woman from anotherbooth hushes him, covering her young daughter's ears. Niall just glares at her before turning back to Louis, "Just do something here. There's not that many people here that you'll hurt."

"Niall-"

"You need to do something or they'll take away your wings."

"They'll what?" Louis gasps.

"I wasn't supposed to say anything," Niall looks down, "But you're not doing anything so I need to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Fine," Louis huffs, looking around the restaurant. He feels like backing out when he sees the people enjoying their dinner. There's a family a few booths away. The young daughter is screaming with delight as her food is brought to her. Her parents smile as they begin to feed her, laughing at her reactions to the lovely tasting fries. On the other side of the restaurant is an elderly couple, each with white hair that resembles the color of angel wings. They smile as they feed each other soup.

Louis closes his eyes, trying to distance himself from the people around him. He can't think about their lives, he can't let himself think of the consequences. He breathes deeply when suddenly a loud sound is heard, startling both boys.

Gunshots are all that can be heard and bullets are flying everywhere.

The mother of the young little girl gasps as a bullet enters her stomach, just as she stands up to protect her daughter. She falls to the floor without making another sound. The little girl begins to cry, tears messily falling from her jade green eyes. The father, filled with rage, pushes himself up and begins to march up to the unknown shooter. Before he can get remotely close, a bullet pierces his chest. He makes a slight grunting noise before falling to the floor- only a few feet away from his unmoving wife. At this, the infant in the high chair stops her screams and numbly watches people continue to fall to the floor.

The elderly couple mumbles a few words to each other before they each fall into their plate of food, unmoving. Louis' heart breaks when he notices their intertwined hands in the middle of the medium sized table, golden rings matching up.

A loud commotion can be heard outside, a few screams and car tires screeching against the floor as people hurry to get away. Louis doesn't give that any attention and instead his widened blue eyes are filled with surprise.

"I-" Louis stammers.

"Shit," Niall says, "We have to get out of here."

Louis nods his head, scrambling out of his seat. Both rush out of the restaurant, ignoring any looks they receive. A woman gathers the courage to stop the two boys.

"Excuse me," she says, lightly grabbing Louis' arm. Niall glares at her hand contact on his friend, "Where are you going? You just witnessed what happened in there, the police will want to ask you a few questions."

"Look, lady, we don't want anything to do with this, so if you don't mind, we'll be leaving right now," Niall spits. Louis' eyes land on what he assumes is the gunman. He appears to be in his late twenties. His beard is small, barely leaves his chin and contrasts greatly against his pale skin color. The man, whoever he is, wears a shocked look as if he can't believe what he had done. He holds the machine gun in a weird form, as if it was some sort of foreign object.

"C'mon,” Niall drags Louis away, forcing the smaller boy to tear his eyes away from the poor man. He just messed up that man’s life. They walk a few blocks before turning down an alleyway, taking a seat. They can still hear the police sirens in the distance but didn't let it faze them, "I didn't know you were so strong."

"I didn't either," Louis breathes out, his eyes staring the small pebble he played with.

"Do you know what you could do?" Niall asks, with a slight tone of excitement, "You made that look like a piece of cake! Who knows what you'll consider hard work!"

"I don't want to find out," Louis says quietly, ashamed of what he had done earlier.

"You shouldn't feel bad about what you did."

"Then why do I?"

"I don't know, but don't make yourself feel horrible about something, it's in the past."

"But it's not!" Louis yells, "It's not in the past for that little girl, who'll have to grow up alone in an orphanage and it's not over for the families of those people! The little elderly couple will have left behind some sort of daughter or son, maybe even grandkids and now they won't ever see them again! It's not over for anyone."

"You can't think of it like that," Niall says flatly, "Don't think about everyone else, think about yourself. Think about how you can tell other's that you have done evil things here on Earth, think about how you share this with others, with Trevor."

"I don't want to share the horrible things I've done," Louis sighs, "I don't want to become a horrible person but it's hard because I'm practically destined to become one."

"It is what it is," Niall shrugs, "You can either accept that you are a form of evil or don't accept it and live your life in misery."

"Let's get tattoos," Louis says suddenly.

"Yes!" Niall agrees eagerly.

"But I need to get drunk first," Louis adds, wearing a slight smirk.

"I'll even pay," Niall is already getting up, pulling Louis up with him. They make their towars a busy night club, where they used to spend most of their nights. The bouncer up front instantly recognizes them and lets them in without a question, ignoring the people in line's complaints. As they enter, the bartender smiles at their presence, quickly creating a order and finished up business with them.

"Matty!" Louis laughs, taking a seat on the plush stools. Niall follows his lead, giving Matty a bright smile. Matty was a long haired Brit that had instantly clicked with Louis and Niall. His reckless lifestyle was ideal for both demons. Not to mention, he always had fabulously styled hair- swept to the side and perfectly messy, just reaching his shoulders. "What can I get you handsome fellows?" Matty winks, reaching beneath the counter and pulling out a few glasses. This wasn't his first time serving the blue eyed boys in front of him which meant he knew they always drank at least two large cups of some sort of alcohol.

"The usual," Niall chirps, tapping his fingers to the loud, vibrating beat. Matty pours and creates a mix of different drinks, filling up eight glasses- four for each.

"Thanks, Matty, you're the bestest of the bestest."

"I know," Matty smirks, walking away to serve another customer. Three hours pass and its dark out. Louis and Niall are definitely drunk.

"Everyone good?" Matty checks up on his friends, pretending to wipe down the counter so his boss doesn't yell at him later.

"Better that better!" Louis smiles, "We're getting tattoos!"

"Are you now? I guess it was pretty foolish of me to assume you'd be going home with someone."

"I'd consider you a downright idiot," Niall jokes.

"Right right," Matty says, "Because Lou here doesn't swing that way."

"Shut up," Louis pouts, "Vaginas just don't make my dick rise the way dicks make my dick rise."

"Didn't need to hear that," Matty laughs, "So what are you thinking of getting for your tattoo?"

"I've got no fucking clue," Louis says, "But I want it to be on my chest."

"That's got to look sexy, especially with those collarbones. You'll have every man and woman drooling over you!"

"You talk as if they don't already now."

"This is true," Matty grins, "Especially with an ass like that."

"My ass thanks you," Louis takes another chug from his drink. Niall is across the floor, making a fool out of himself in front of a random and amused looking girl.

"Promise me you'll show me once you get it," Matty looks up at Louis, his dark brown eyes meeting Louis' blue ones.

"Of course, Healy, what type of friend do you think I am?"

"A shitty one," Niall slurs, interrupting the conversation, "Because if we don't get going soon, Teddy's going to close up the shop before we can even think about the tattoo we want."

"I'll let you go," Matty teases, "Have fun! But not too much fun without me!"

"Never in my lifetime!" Louis calls over his shoulder, feeling his skin prickle at the sudden cold air surrounding his body. He regrets not bringing a jacket but can't think too much about before Niall is pulling him down the street.

"The par-tay had arrived," Niall slurs, entering the shop that has its closed sign up.

"I will not tattoo you if you say that again," Ed glares, stepping away from the desk he been leading over.

"The fucking par-tay has fucking arrived, bitch," Niall says seriously. Ed is staring at the drunken idiot but only lasts a few seconds before he bursts out into a fit of laughter.

"I get to go first!" Louis calls out, already running towards the ginger haired man.

"That's not fair!" Niall huffs, crossing his arms over his chest, nearly stumbling over his own two feet. He catches himself on a chair nearby.

"I want one on my chest, Eddy Boy! It's gonna say It Is What It Is!"

"Hey! I said that first!" Niall calls from his side of the room, "You can't copy my words!"

"Well to fucking bad Horan, I'm getting it done right now. Right, Ed?"

"I can't deny a customer," Ed laughs, "C’mon; I have one room that it'll work."

Ed leads Louis to the back of the shop and into one of the open rooms. The walls are painted a warm, light green with a mixture of white. It goes well with the dark tiled floor. There's a plush seat in the corner and beside it is a table to hold objects. Ed pulls out his equipment, setting it down on the small table as Louis' throws his shirt off, revealing his pale, smooth chest.

"I'm just going to do what I think looks good, alright?" Ed says. Most tattoo artists would never tattoo someone without giving them an idea of what the tattoo will look like but Ed is different, he's the exception and that's what Louis loves about him so much.

The next two hours are filled with low curse words and small yelps of pain. Louis' knuckles are turning white with how hard he's gripping the arm rest of the seat. Finally, Ed takes a step back admiring his work. Louis looks down and nearly gasps at the new writing.

It's a fancy cursive font- big and legible. The edges of each letter rises with an angry red tint around it from where the needle had pricked. Ed lightly covers the new tattoo with a gauge, warning Louis to be careful with it.

"I don't think I'm drunk anymore," Louis groans, standing up, "It hurts so much. Why didn't you stop me?"

"Did you really want me to?"

"No, I guess not," Louis sighs before exiting the room. A small laugh escapes him when he finds Niall passed out on the floor. Without a second thought Louis lays down beside his best friend, finally closing his eyes.

"Alright, Niall if you want-" Ed begins but stops when he finds the two boys laying on his floor. Chuckling and shaking his head, Ed steps around them and goes to lock the front door before laying down as well.

There was one thing Ed had noticed about Niall and Louis.

They both cussed like sailors when drunk.

*** 

"Today, tragedy has struck. A man was found outside the local diner with a machine gun in his hands. Inside the building lay four dead. A mother, a father and an elderly couple all lost. Except for the little girl whose name shall remained confidential for safety reasons. The motive behind the shooting is currently unknown and the gunman appears to not know why he did it in the first place."

Zayn shakes his head at the small TV as he brings up his spoon of cereal up to his mouth, "Damn demons."

"We have to do something about it!" Harry groans, entering the room.

"We can't, you know that. I don't want to be picking any fights either so we’ll just lay low or hope we can bring as much good as we can."

"You make us sound like hippies," Harry sighs, "We should do something, maybe track them down to at least find out who they are so we know who to look out for..."

"But what if they kill us or find out we're following them? That wouldn't end well," Zayn argues, muting the TV. Liam turns back to the sandwich he was making, putting back the ham in the fridge.

"We need to get groceries soon," he says quietly.

"Can we get Cup O'Noodles? I tried them last week and it was like Heaven in my mouth," Harry asks. Zayn gives him a questioning look.

"Why would Heaven be in your mouth?" Liam raises an eyebrow.

"No! It's a metaphor or whatever, I don't actually have heaven in my mouth," Harry rolls his eyes, "But anyways, we can't just sit here and let bad happen. If we do, we don't even deserve to be here."

"Don't be too harsh on yourself; we've done plenty of good things while we're here."

"Yes but that doesn't matter if we're letting worse things happen," Harry retorts, "We need to at least know what they look like, see what they're capable of so we know what we're up against."

"I don't know Harry..." Zayn trails off, looking unsure, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Ever since the cafe incident, where the bank robbery had been near, Harry had developed a small obsession for the unknown demons that had been hiding in the same city as him. He hadn't shared with the other two boys that he had caught a glimpse of the two strange boys, who argued over the outcome of the crime. Harry knew they were demons, it was obvious from their flawless looks. Something that beautiful couldn't have been human.

Harry has especially taken a liking to the chestnut haired boy. He could vaguely remember how he looked exactly. But his blue eyes remained prominently in the memory- how they were cold but still the most beautiful blue Harry had ever seen in his lifetime. Harry also remembers the way the boy's pale skin appeared smooth and clean, as if nothing had ever harmed his skin.

"Earth to Harry," Liam says, waving a hand in front of his friend's face. Harry blinks, immediately flushing red when he realized he had zoned out.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"We were asking if you were alright. You seem a bit... dedicated to find out who these demons are. We're a bit worried about you if I were being honest."

"Well you should be dedicated," Harry uses air quotes around the words, mocking the way Liam had said it, "Just like I am to finding out the true identity of our enemies."

"We are!" Zayn defends, "We just don't take it to extremes like you!"

"I am not taking it to extremes!" Harry yells, his face slowly turning red as do the tips of his white wings, which are beginning to spread behind him.

"Just drop it, Z," Liam mutters, eyes never leaving the angered curly haired boy before him.

"We're just worried about you," Zayn's eyes soften, "You stay up incredibly late reading about the demons from human books. Even you know their information isn't accurate."

"It's all I have left to read," Harry groans, "I've already read all the books my mum sent with me."

"Give yourself a break, take a walk and enjoy life here on Earth because before you know it, we're going to have to leave and go back to Heaven."

"I don't want to leave," Harry admits quietly, "I know I should feel that way but I can't help it. I like it here. There are so many people with different stories and I just wish I could hear them all. I want to stay here."

"You know we all wish that," Liam says softly, "But we can't always get what we want."

"Try to hear as many stories as you can, save as many people as you can, do everything you've ever wished to do because sooner or later you won't be able too," Zayn smiles sadly.

"Do you want to stay here?" Harry asks the both of them. Zayn hesitates in his answer while Liam is able to respond quickly.

"I do," Liam nods, "I think its lovely here and there is so much left to explore. I dream of settling down somewhere with someone. I think that would be nice."

"Yeah," Zayn agrees, "I want to stay. The drawing opportunities are grand. I have to show you, it's so amazing. I definitely wish we could stay here. I'd like to find someone too, I want to feel love."

"I don't know if I want to feel love, but it would be nice to stay," Harry says.

"What's wrong with love?" Zayn tilts his head, curious to see why his friend felt this way. Harry looks away, green eyes aimed at the bland colored carpet.

"What if you fall for someone and think they're this grand person and that they're the best thing that's ever happened to you? And then you find out they're not? What if they're a horrible person, a cruel person? What if they're a demon?"

"If you fall in love, you fall in love. Don't let labels stop you. If you saw something in someone, I'm sure you saw it for a reason. If you think someone is grand, you think that because of the things they do and maybe they don't always do the right thing but they do sometimes and that's what counts," Zayn answers thoughtfully, trying to ease his friend's worry, "Take a risk, enjoy the adventure."

"But what would the others say if I came back with the story of how I fell in love with a demon and survived?"

"That didn't actually happen," Liam comments, "The whole angel who suffered because they fell in love with a demon."

"What?" Harry's mouth hangs open. Had he been worrying for nothing?

"Yeah," Liam lightly laughs, "I checked it out when we first got here, just to be sure and it turns out it never happened. An angel did fall in love with a demon once but no one knows what happened. They both disappeared. Most people think they just flew away, leaving behind anything that was holding them back. I hope they're happy.'

"I think I'm going to take a walk," Harry says after a moment. He throws on a dark brown jacket with faux fur on the inside on top of his white tee shirts. His dark colored skinny jeans go nicely with the brown chelsea boots he slips onto his feet.

"Be safe," Liam calls behind Harry as the door shuts. Harry's lips tug into a weak smile before they fall back down into a frown.

He can't believe he'd spent all those months worrying about something that wasn't even true. He'd spent months terrified he would fall in love with someone, only for them to be a demon. He had feared that any act of flirtation towards him had been one of a demon.

Harry is too caught up in his own thoughts to notice the small shadow following him. He turns into an alleyway, unaware of where he truly is. It isn't until he hits a dead end does he realize he could be in a safer place.

"Finally," a feminine voice says from behind him, "I've been dreaming of this day for years."

Harry whips around to come face to face with a crazed looking woman. The light from a nearby building allows Harry to make out a few of her features. Her dark brown eyes are wider than usual and she appears to not have showered for days- judging from the oil in her hair. Harry can't see anything more as the light is now turned off.

"C-Can I help you?" Harry weakly gets out.

"I know what you are," she mutters, "You're an angel."

"I-" Harry tries.

"I tried to tell them you were real! But they wouldn't listen!" she screams, reaching into her bag and pulling out a large net, "Guess I'll just have to catch you and show them myself!"

"Please, I'm not-"

"Shut up," she yells, punching Harry in the cheek. Harry falls to the cold, hard floor, gasping in surprise. He clutches his cheek as he forces himself to stand back up. The woman appears satisfied with her actions and goes to throw the net on the angel.

As an attempt to escape, Harry spread his wings. He tries to fly away but something pulls him down. He looks at his foot to see a rope tied tightly around it, "Please let me go."

His voice is soft and kind but the woman ignores it and tugs him to the ground. Harry sees a flash of red in the corner of his eye but he doesn't bother to take his eyes off the woman pulling him to the floor.

Suddenly, a bottle is being brought down on the woman's head, causing her to lose her grip on the rope that is holding the angel down. Harry begins to fly away when something is thrown at him. It hits his wing causing him to cry out in pain as he falls to the floor.

"Goddamit," a new voice curses. Due to the darkness, Harry can't make out a face the voice yet. His eyes spot a new woman but he knows the voice doesn't belong to her; it was too beautiful to belong to her. He can make out the woman's shape and that she's clutching something in her hand.

"What did you do to Barbara?" the woman demands, her tone cold.

"I didn't do anything," Harry whimpers, wishing Zayn or Liam would somehow save him. Just as the woman raises her hand, another object hits her. Harry realizes there's a homeless man that's been defending him against these women. Barbara's friend collapses to the floor. Harry turns to thank the homeless man and notices the slight distance in his eyes. It doesn't take him more than a second to realize the man's violent actions were a demon's doing.

"Hello?" Harry nervously calls out. He hates the way his voice trembles with fear, "I know you're there, so come out."

Hesitantly, a figure flies down from the roof of a nearby building. Harry's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when he realizes it's the same boy that had been with the blonde boy- Neil was it? Harry recognizes the dark red wings and shrinks away.

"Did you cause it or save me?" Harry bluntly asks.

"I-I-" the demon stutters. Harry feels a bit more at ease, knowing he's not the only nervous one. He'd always assumed demons were confident and smooth but it was obvious this demon was anything but that.

"If you saved me thanks," Harry says quietly.

 

"You're welcome," the demon responds.

"I'm Harry," the curly haired boy finds himself saying. Harry wants to hit himself. Why is he trying to befriend a demon?

"Louis," the demon introduces.

"You were with that blonde kid, when the bank robbery happened," Harry frowned.

"Yeah," Louis grimaces, "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't sound too sorry if you let it happen," Harry tuts.

Louis only looks down, ashamed, "I know."

"You caused that shooting didn't you?"

"I'm a horrible person," Louis sighs, "But I only did it because I had to!"

"So that makes it okay?"

"No but it should make it less wrong," Louis answers weakly.

"It doesn't though," Harry's voice is not harsh, "What about the families who lost loved ones? Did you ever stop to think about them?"

"Of course I did!" Louis groans, surprising Harry completely, "Don't you think I've torn myself apart thinking about them? I didn't mean for it to get that bad! I didn't even know I could do that..." the last part of his sentence is said quietly, almost as if he meant to say it to himself. Before Harry can say anything more, another demon appears from behind the corner, his red wings spread widely.

"There you are!" he yells, a frown on his face, "I swear to God, you're going to get yourself fucking killed, running off like that."

"Ni," Louis begins.

"Trevor's mad, so I advise to avoid him."

"Niall! Would you shut up?" Louis scolds. Niall stops talking, his eyes finally landing on the beautiful angel standing a few feet away.

"What the fuck?" Niall says, flying towards the angel who flinches away, "I'm assuming you're an angel then?"

"Yes," Harry forces out.

"Leave it to Louis to fall for an angel," Niall mutters, ignoring the harsh glare Louis sends him. Niall notices the way Harry's wing is bent in an awkward angle, "Are you hurt?"

"Some bitch through something at him," Louis says through gritted teeth.

"Want some help getting back to where you live?" Niall offers. Harry hesitates before sighing and nodding.

"Thanks," Harry says quietly, allowing each demon to support him as they fly into the sky. Harry directs them towards his home. Harry's mouth betrays him as he speaks,  
grabbing onto Louis' arm just before he's about to leave, "Wait, I want to talk to you again."

"We can meet up somewhere?" Louis replies, unsure if this was the right thing to be doing.

"There's this little coffee shop not too far from here, actually... Why don't you just come over here and we can walk there? Or fly, whatever floats your goat?"

Harry feels a sense of pride when he sees Louis' eyes crinkle and a beautiful laugh leave the boy's body.

"Sounds fun," Louis smiles, "What's your number so I know exactly where to go?"

Harry rattles off his number before bidding Louis a goodnight. He then limps up the stairs, wondering what he was going to tell Zayn and Liam. And if he was even going to tell them about Louis. Probably not.

*** 

"Out of everyone is world, you choose a fucking angel?" Niall raises an eyebrow. Louis groans flopping into the bed.

"You act like I intend on marrying him," Louis rolls his eyes.

"In all the time we've been here, you've never used your abilities to help someone. Not even me! But suddenly there's an angel in trouble and you help him? An angel, no less!" Niall tries to get Louis to understand how big this is but that isn't necessary as Louis already knows.

"I saw it," Louis says quietly.

"What?"

"I saw how I died," Louis answers vaguely.

"You don't think-" Niall begins to but shuts his mouth and is once again evaluating the situation, "Fuck, Lou, do you really think you've fallen for this angel?"

"I-I don't know," Louis croaks, "I don't want to."

"The heart wants what it wants," Niall smiles weakly, "Do you want to share how you...?"

Louis catches Niall's drift but shakes his head, "I'd rather not."

"Well, what are we going to do about this curly haired angel?"

"He was the one at the bank, the one who threw you off your game or whatever," Louis wears a blank look, almost as if he's shutting down. Niall recognizes the signs.

"Don't do this, Louis. Please don't, I almost lost you last time," Niall begs, grabbing ahold of Louis' hand. Louis yelps, yanking it away. He shakes his head and seems disappointed to see where he is.

"He was there and he knew about the shooting too!" Louis says, tears pooling in his eyes.

"You can't hold that against yourself, you were only doing what you were trained to do," Niall says softly. Louis sighs and looks away. It's clear he won't be letting go the shooting he caused, the tragedy he created any time soon.

"We're meeting tomorrow, you know," Louis finally says. Niall's eyes widen.

"I'm not sure it that's such a good idea. I mean, with the whole-"

"I know, I know. But I couldn't just tell him that, could I? He would have thought I was crazy and killed me."

"Maybe you can cancel?"

"I don't really want to."

"You will no doubt get close to him, just prepared for anything that comes your way. You know these types of friendships and relationships are frowned upon."

"Which is why it will be kept secret," Louis looks at Niall with expectant eyes, "Now, what was it you were saying about Trevor?"

"He was looking for you, he wouldn't say why. He just needed to talk to you but from the way he was clenching his fists, I could tell he wanted to do more than just talk. Anyways, he went looking for you so I did too. I was so relieved that I got to you first. Basically, I don't think he's too happy that you outshined him with that shooting while all he did was make two boats crash."

"I outshined him?" Louis asks, shocked.

"Yeah, everyone was talking about. Even our old Miss Grinch of a teacher was probably surprised. It takes a lot of power to make someone cause a mass shooting. Maybe pulling the trigger once is simple but repeatably is something very few demons can do. And you did it."

"I feel like I'm in Harry Potter or something," Louis mutters, earning a laugh from Niall.

"We'd definitely be Slytheranies," Niall jokes.

"It's Slytherin, you fucking idiot," Louis says, glaring at his friend.

"Dear lord, will God every forgive me?" Niall throws a hand over.

"Hell no," Louis laughs, "You're a demon."

"Why must you remind me of our horrid ways?"

"Are you mocking me, Horan?" 

"I would never dream of it, Sir!"

"That's what I thought. Because if you ever did, I might just have to kill you."

"Like you could."

"Shut up! I did cause a shooting, you know."

"That's it!" Niall cheers "Use it to your advantage!" 

"I don't want to use it like that," Louis sighs, his enthusiasm now gone. 

"Don't start with me, Tommo," Niall uses the nickname boldly, hoping Louis' wouldn't mind. Luckily he doesn't. 

"But it's wrong to take so many deaths as a good thing, and it's even worse for me to sound like I'm proud for doing something so horrible." 

"That's what exactly what we're supposed to do!" Niall exclaims, growing tired to trying to make Louis understand what was expected of him, "There's nothing you can do! It is what it is!"

Louis looks down and peeks beneath his shirt. He finally nods his head, "You're right."

"I'm sorry I am," Niall says softly, "Why don't you get going to see your angel, yeah? I'm sure he'll cheer you up."

"Fine," Louis says quietly, getting up and leaving the room. Niall should feel happy that Louis has accepted what he is, but why doesn't he?

Louis is now at a small cafe that Harry had brought him too. It's different from the one near the bank where the robbery had taken place. The feeling is warmer and more inviting. The woman who takes Harry and Louis' orders is kind. She has plump round cheeks, always red, and wears a toothy grin. Her brown hair is tightly curled and ends just past her shoulders. 

"You're quiet," Harry notices, gathering his courage to speak first. Their food has already come but neither of them has touched the filled plates in front of them. Louis finally looks up, his blue eyes meeting Harry's jade green ones for the first time. He makes a small gasping noise.

\---

"Get up, you fag," someone snarls, kicking Louis in the back. He can feel the cold ground beneath him and though it is uncomfortable, he doesn't plan on standing up. The same person is kicking him once more, grunting a few slurred words under their breath "Don't ignore me."

"Please," Louis yelps, reaching out towards the man, "Thomas."

"Don't touch me!" Thomas screams, kicking Louis' arm to the side. Louis yelps at the sudden motion, tears sticking to this cheeks. His upper lip has been cut and blood has begun to pool. Louis' blue eyes are surrounded by rising purple skin. 

"Don't hurt me," Louis whimpers.

"You're such a coward, such a fucking coward. Even in high school, you wouldn't even let me hold your hand," Thomas takes another swing from the cold beer in his hand, letting out a satisfied grunt as the liquid burns his throat on the way down, "Why can't you just grow some balls and be a man?"

"I-I-I-" Louis doesn't know what to say, he tries scrambling away but is quickly stopped by Thomas' oversized hand tightly gripping his ankle.

"I don't see why you would even try to escape, you don't have anyone. Why would you try to leave the only person who can tolerate you? The only person who ever even love you, just a little bit?"

Louis hangs his head, admitting defeat, "You're right," he croaks. 

"Darling, I always was," Thomas chuckles darkly, his voice booming the quiet room. 

"Louis? Are you alright?" Harry's shaking brings Louis out of his trance. Louis turns to see Harry's worried filled eyes, quickly looking away.

"I'm fine," Louis says weakly. He notices he knocked over the salt and pepper and he's nearly covered in sweat. Luckily, no one but Harry had noticed his sudden outburst. 

"If you say so," Harry sits back in his seat, grabbing his sandwich. Louis does the same and goes to eat it, "You said that you tore yourself apart for the shooting... I thought demons didn't feel bad?"

"We don't," Louis answers bluntly, "I'm just fucked up."

"Don't curse please," Harry says immediately. Louis' cheeks redden as he quickly apologizes. Harry lets it go, "Why do you think you're messed up?"

"We're not supposed to feel bad. We're not supposed to think badly about these things... but I do." 

"But that's good, it means you still have some light left in you," Harry tries to cheer the demon up. 

"I think everyone feels a bit bad. Maybe, up there, they've taught you that we were soulless creatures but we aren't completely that. I mean we may not always feel bad about the things we do but if you look closely, you can see a bit of pain in every demon's eyes, a bit of regret. But we're trained to ignore these feelings because they come with the job." 

"I've never even thought of that," Harry sits back in his chair. 

"Don't think every demon thinks what they're doing is wrong, because it's not. In our world, everything evil we do deserves to be praised. It's the complete opposite of where you come from."

"What's Hell like?" Harry asks quietly, looking around to make sure no one is overhearing their conversation. 

"It's horrible," Louis shakes his head, grimacing at just the thought of what it was like. 

"How?" Harry prompts.

"Because everyone hits their kids, everyone is cruel to one another. It's every man for him. Hearts are constantly broken because people abandon their families for other lovers or opportunities," Louis says, ashamed. 

"Your parents hit you?" Harry's green eyes are wide with surprise. 

"Only my mum did," Louis admits, "My dad was off who knows where, probably fucking some whore."

Harry cringes at the use of language but doesn't mention it, "What about Niall? He seemed nice and he was a demon?"

"We're the exception. Niall is nice. He knows what he's doing is wrong but I think he's accepted it's who he is. He tries not to make it so bad or happen often but sometimes he can't control it. I'm still in my trying to accept myself stage." 

"That explains your tattoo," Harry's eyes are focused on Louis' smooth chest. He had just removed the bandages before coming. 

"Yeah," Louis nods, "Though I was pretty drunk when I got it."

"You were drunk?"

"Me and Niall always get drunk, it's amazing."

"Don't you worry about getting hurt?"

"Never."

"You shouldn't drink though, it's bad for you."

"I'm a demon, Harry, it's what I do."

"I don't think you really believe that."

"Okay, fine. I don't but the alcohol makes me forget what I really am and that's all I need." 

"There's other ways to deal with it."

"And what do you suggest?" Louis snaps. 

"You can talk about it," Harry suggests.

"I have. I've talked about it to Niall."

"Talk about it to someone who won't get you drunk afterwards," Harry corrects himself. 

"And who would even want to listen to my problems? I told you, most demons only think about themselves!"

"What about me?" Harry shyly suggests. Louis closes his mouth, eyes slightly widened. Harry looks down, "I mean only if you want to, you don't have if it makes you  
uncomfortable since you're an angel and I'm a demon. Wait- no. It's opposite, since you're a demon and I'm-"

"Thanks, Harry," Louis cuts Harry off, wrapping his arms tightly around the curly haired boy.

"So that's a yes?"

"To what?"

"To hang out more. I mean, we should hang out a bit more so you feel comfortable around me and know you can trust me," at this point Harry is blushing but Louis thinks it's cute. 

"That sounds really nice," Louis smiles, "I want to hang out with you, if that's alright?"

"Of course!" Harry nervously laughs, trying to hide the blush he can feel on his cheeks. To avoid saying anything weird, Harry takes a bite of his sandwich. Louis does the same but when he looks back up, he's got a small piece of lettuce stuck to the corner of his mouth. Harry lets out a small laugh, as he stares at the corner of Louis' lips. Louis instantly notices Harry's lingering eye.

"Do I have something on my face?" Louis asks, reaching up to wipe his cheek. He misses the scrap of lettuce completely. 

"I should say no and let you think I was staring at your beautiful face," Harry pauses when he realizes he just called Louis beautiful. Louis doesn't mention it though Harry can tell from the way he looks away that he heard it, "But I'm afraid you've got a piece of lettuce right here."

Louis' breath hitches when Harry's soft finger makes contact with his lip, quickly wiping away the lettuce piece.

"Louis, I told you to but away the dishes before I came home," Thomas' voice is eerily calm and Louis knows he's just about to ready to burst in anger. 

"I-It took me a little longer than I thought it would to clean our room," Louis says weakly, hoping Thomas' anger will be controllable tonight. 

"It wouldn't have been if you would clean after yourself when I tell you too," Thomas spits, setting down the two bags of groceries onto the kitchen counter. 

"I-I'm sorry," Louis doesn't waste any time making his way towards the dishrack, hastily beginning to put away dishes in their usual spots. 

"Don't do it now!" Thomas yells, slamming his fist onto the wobbly table. Louis yelps at the sudden loud noise, dropping the glass plate he held in his hands. The light green  
plate crashes to the ground, shattering into dozens of fragments. Thomas' eyes fill with anger, "You idiot! Do you know how much I had to pay for that?"

"N-no," Louis answers truthfully, biting his lip and looking down at the floor. 

"No you don't! Because you're a worthless, lazy asshole who doesn't care about anyone but himself!"

"I'm sorry," Louis fights back the tears in his eyes and the small sting in his chest. He can't be hurt over something that's the truth. He's just lucky he has someone like Thomas to  
remind him of what others are afraid to say. 

Harry brings his hand back to his lap and nervously takes another bite out of his sandwich, praying he hadn't freaked Louis out. A minute passes of pure silence before Louis is  
grinning again and Harry feels his heart flutter when Louis' hand makes its way to his arm. 

"So, when are we going to do this again?" 

***

They did, in fact, become closer. 

They spend various hours on the rooftops of random buildings in the late hours of the night. Each night they set new times to meet, erasing any trace that they knew each other. Though it was chilly out, each creature was not going to let something as weak as the weather stop them. 

As the days passed, Harry's mind began to cloud with thoughts of Louis and his weird habits. Harry wondered what Louis was doing. He wondered whether he liked certain  
movies and music, he wondered whether Louis would think him weird for knowing all his favorite. He knew Louis' favorite color; he knew his favorite candy, song, movie, place,language etc. Harry would last only a few minutes dreaming of Louis before scolding himself. He should not be thinking of a demon while trying to spread good around the world. He should certainly not be missing a demon when he was an angel, the most purest creature on Earth. 

The angel's friends had begun to become suspicious of where the curly haired boy was flying off to every night and why he wouldn't share it. They worried about the way Harry would spend hours alone in his room and never come out, why it seemed he was out of it. But they knew better than to pry so kept their silence until he was ready to share. But months had begun to pass and Harry would still leave at the randomest hours of the night and return just before the sun start to rise. 

"Where have you been?" Zayn asks nonchalantly. Harry shrugs and begins the walk to his bed. Liam stops him, placing his hand lightly on Harry's shoulder. 

"Where have you been?" he demands, with a more harsh tone that Zayn had used. Harry sighs, turning around.

"I met someone- well something... They're a demon," Harry admits quietly. Zayn's face breaks out into a huge smile as he congratulates his friends Meanwhile, Liam is happy for Harry but he's still concerned.

"Where did you meet him?"

"Well, funny story..." Harry tries to laugh but when he sees no one else is, he stops, "Remember when I came home and my wing was all messed up?"

"He did that, didn't he?" Zayn spits, his smile vanishing, "You can't keep seeing him if he did that-"

"No!" Harry defends, "No, he didn't do that. He actually saved me."

"How?"

"There was this lady and she was one of the crazies who spend their entire lives chasing after us. I was stuck in an alleyway with her and she planned to capture me and show me to everyone. But all the sudden, this homeless man was hitting her with a bottle and knocked her and her partner out. I was going to thank him but he had the look in his eyes that told me his actions weren't his own."

"It was the demon’s," Liam finishes, already knowing what Harry was going to say. 

"Exactly," Harry nods, "So I told him he could come out and he did. You should have seen him, he's beautiful. He's got these eyes of blue that remind me of the sky on a sunny day. And his hair is this light brown color that always shines and it's just so soft."

Zayn and Liam share a knowing look, eyes shining with fondness. Harry pauses, "What?"

"You love him."

"We're just friends, right now," Harry blushes.

"Just for now, but soon to be lovers," Zayn teases. Harry looks away but doesn't deny anything.

"So when do get to meet him?" Liam asks. 

"You want to meet him?" Harry squeaks. 

"Of course we do!" Zayn laughs, "We can't just let you fall in love with just anyone." 

"Um, alright. I'll see if he can come over sometime."

"By the end of this week!" Liam cheers, dragging Zayn into the kitchen to make him some tea. 

So, the next night, Harry finds himself meeting Louis at a new rooftop, just by a park. Louis is already waiting there, feet swinging of the edge. Harry takes a seat beside the small figure, sighing a bit.

Over the months, Harry notices small changes in Louis' appearance. The boy's blue eyes have dimmed slightly and his hair is no longer as soft. His skin is a sickly pale color, not the beautiful snow white it once was. All the movements he makes are weak and slow, as if he's got no energy left in him. He still smiles and he's still got the same personality but Harry notices the way her forces the smile to reach his eyes, the way he forces himself to make a joke. Louis is going in a downward spiral and Harry can do nothing but watch. 

 

"Are you alright, Lou?" Harry hesitantly asks, internally frowning at the lit cigarette hanging loosely from Louis' thin lips. Harry knows it's a stress habit Louis picked up in his group of friends and he doesn't say anything about it. 

"Just tired," Louis answers lamely, fully well knowing Harry wasn't going to buy that excuse, "I haven't made anything evil happen in over two months, you know."

"Really? That's great!" Harry smiles, earning a weak grin from Louis, "Have you gotten any tattoos recently?"

"Yeah, actually," Louis shifts so he's facing Harry and, "It's a rope, see?"

Harry nods his head, allowing Louis to explain, "Basically, it's like the rope is tied in a knot and stuck like that forever but if you keep going the rope ends and you've found a way out. It was just something I thought my life as a while ago..."

"It's nice," Harry comments, his hands running over the dark ink. Louis once again makes a small gasping noise the second Harry's skin makes contact with his own.

"You worthless twat," Thomas spits, "Nobody wants you anymore! Why don't you get that?"

"You're wrong," Louis tries to defend himself, tries to convince himself someone out there does care for him.

"Really?" Thomas snorts, "Your mother doesn't care about you, your sisters don't care about, not even a single friend gives a shit if you die. And frankly, I don't think I would either."

"Thomas," Louis whimpers, the tears finally breaking through, leaving trails on his cheeks before wetting his shirt. 

"I want to see this house spotless before I come home from work," Thomas grunts before slamming the front door behind himself. Louis hears the locks click and then it is silent. 

He doesn't move to clean but instead he drags himself to the bathroom. Silently, he opens the medicine cabinet and wraps his thin fingers around the bright orange bottle. The cap pops of with ease and he grabs a nearby cup, filling it with water. 

Louis pauses for a moment, looking at himself in the mirror. He shrinks away when he sees his own reflection, barely recognizing it. The tan that had caused envy was gone and replaced with a sickly white. His blue eyes were nothing but blue and sadness- they were empty. Bruises and scratches covered nearly every inch of him, causing his face to swell up in certain parts. 

There was only one way he could escape. No one was going help him. No one cared. So if he wanted to be saved, he had to do it himself.

Without a second though, Louis swallows the entire pill bottle, washing it down with water. He doesn't feel any different until a few minutes later. It begins with his limbs feeling weak before he can't hold his own body up anymore. He collapses to the ground, leaning against the closed door. His eyelids are heavy and his bones are aching. His body wants him to give up.

So he does. 

"Louis," Harry says calmly, to not startle the boy who seemed to be in another world. Louis looks at him through widened eyes. His breathing rapidly increases as he scrambles to get away. Harry backs away as well, in attempt to show Louis he means no harm, "Calm, calm. I'm not going to hurt you, alright?"

"You promise?" Louis voice is hoarse and weak but Harry knows any wrong moves will send Louis flying into the night. It's only gotten this bad once- when Harry had hugged Louis by surprise in a grocery store. Louis had been so embarrassed to have had a panic attack in front of Harry. 

Harry gives him a slight smile, holding his hand out for Louis to grab, "Do you want to come over? You can sleep in my bed and I can make you some tea if you want..."

Louis just nods his head, his eyes lids nearly closed. He scooches towards the curly haired boy, allowing him to move his body. Harry places Louis arms around him, "I'll carry you."

"Thanks, Haz," Louis mumbles sleepily as he nuzzles his head into Harry's neck. Harry smiles a bit at the new nickname, before flying in the direction of his house. 

Harry lands safely on the balcony outside of the small apartment and slips inside. He places Louis down onto his bed, covering him with a random green blanket. Just as he's leaving, he feels a small hand tugging him back. It's not forceful, it's weak and tired, but it was enough to grab Harry's attention. 

"Stay," Louis says sleepily, looking at Harry through unfocused eyes, "At least until I fall asleep."

"Of course," Harry whispers. Louis moves to the side, making room for Harry. Once Harry lays down, Louis curls himself into Harry's body. Harry places his arm around Louis, enjoying the way it felt to feel Louis' chest rise up and down in a rhythmic pattern. 

When Harry looks down, he's surprised to see Louis' blue eyes staring back up at him, "Thank you for everything, for listening to me and taking care of me."

"Anytime, Lou," Harry smiles, pressing his lips to Louis' forehead. Louis smiles at Harry's sweet gesture. Harry is relieved he didn't have another panic attack. 

"You know, where I come from," Louis says quietly, his eyes focused on the pattern of the random blanket on top of him, "They say when you find your soulmate, you remember how you died."

"Am I your soulmate?" Harry carefully asks his voice smooth and long. He feels himself stop breathing as he anticipates the answer. 

"Yeah," Louis finally whispers, tears brimming his eyes.

"Do you wanna... I don't know," Harry stutters, "Do you want to go out sometime?"

"Because you're my soulmate?" Louis looks up.

"Well, that too but," Harry pauses, "I really like you, Lou. You give me butterflies and make me happy."

"I'd love to," Louis weakly smiles. 

"Can you tell me how you died?" Harry changes the topic, hoping it's not too much to ask. Louis doesn't say anything for a few seconds, eyes darting around the room. In his mind, he debates whether or not to share his secret with Harry. If he did, he would be letting him in and Louis doesn't do that. He gets close to few but at this point, Louis is 

ready to consider Harry as part of that few. 

"I killed myself," Louis says bluntly, "I'm such a bad person. I thought my life was bad enough to end it and look where it landed me."

"The way you kill your sadness doesn't make you a bad person."

"But what if I was a bad person? I only get small glimpses of my life and from what I've seen; I must have done something pretty bad to deserve it." 

"What do you see?" Harry asks softly.

"There's a man, his name is Thomas. I think I was dating him, but I'm not entirely sure. He always yells at me. He tells me I'm worthless and that no one cares about me. He hits me when I don't do things right and he kicks me a lot."

"Lou..." Harry whimpers, a tear running down his cheek, "Is that what those panic attacks are about?"

"They only happen sometimes when you touch me, I'm not sure what triggers it. It isn’t' something specific you touch either, sometimes when you touch my arm it just sorta happens," Louis tries to explain, "It's like I'm trapped and I can't escape until you're touching me again or saying my name. That always brings me back." 

"You don't deserve a life of torture like that, where someone who is supposed to care for you doesn't and instead harms you. That's not right.

"But I deserved it," Louis says, his voice weak, "I dropped plates or I didn't do what he told me to do."

"Some people deserve to be hurt, but you don't."

"I'm tired," is all Louis says before he shuts his eyes and is sound asleep. Harry sighs a bit and slowly pulls away. He gets out of bed to see if Liam and Zayn are home. They are and are currently in the kitchen. They act as if they hadn't heard anything but Harry knows they've been eavesdropping the minute Harry and Louis first entered the room. 

"Is that him then?" Liam asks wearily, looking the figure sleeping in Harry's bed, "You trust him?"

"With my life," Harry nods.

"Why's he so tired?"

"He's been like that for a while but it's never gotten this bad. I carried him because he too tired to fly."

"Is he depressed?"

"I don't think so," Harry shakes his head, "On the bright side, he hasn't caused any tragedies in over two months. At least that's what he's told me."

"What?" Liam nearly yells, dropping the plate he was washing back into the sink, "He hasn't been creating evil?"

"Not for at least two months, why?" Harry asks.

"Harry! Don't you know what happens when a demon doesn't do its job?"

"No?"

“You’d think with all the reading-“

“Well, I didn’t alright? Now what happens to them?”

"They get their wings taken away from them," Zayn says quietly, "And the warning signs for them to get moving are weakness. Their body slowly gives up on them until they can barely walk. It's then their wings are taken away."

"What? How do you know this?" Harry looks between his two friends, horrified by the news.

"Demons fascinated me," Zayn shrugs, looking away. 

"Louis..." Harry says sadly, looking at the slowly crumbling boy sleeping in his bed, "Why would you destroy yourself like that?"

Liam follows Harry's saddened gaze, realizing it's on the demon in other side of the room. He sighs.

"We destroy ourselves for the people we love."

*** 

"I know what you're doing and I don't like it," Niall says.

"What are you talking about?" Louis croaks, resting his head on his pillow. 

"You're destroying yourself; you want to get your wings taken away."

"At least I won't be a demon anymore."

"You won't be anything!"

"Well then maybe there's a bright side after all," Louis spits. 

"Louis! You can't just give up like that! You can't just stop doing what you're meant to do because not everyone is pleased with it!"

"I'm not pleased with it! I don't give a shit about what other people think of the things I do! I care about what I think about myself! I care and I am disgusted with the things I have caused! I am disgusted to know I've brought pain to people whom I've never even met! I've brought pain and sorrow to their lives and I can't take it back," Louis bursts, his breathing is heavy and his eyes are a fiery blue. 

"But you can't stop," Niall cries, "You can't leave like that, Lou. You can't just leave me. That's what you're doing. You're leaving me. You're leaving Harry. I know you don't like it. I know you hate to do what you're meant to do but you know what? Life is shit sometimes. Life fucking sucks. But sometimes you have to push away all the things you hate about it and look at things you love. Yeah, I mean it's horrible what we do but we don't do it constantly. We only do it enough so we can live. We don't take advantage of our strengths. We use only what is necessary."

"It's not right," Louis whimpers, "It's not right."

"It's the way the world works; we need the evil to balance out the good."

"Ying and yang," Louis whispers.

"What?"

"That ancient Asian symbol," Louis mutters, knowing his theory wouldn't be very accurate but he didn't care, "It's a circle but its cut in half. One half is white and the other is black. In one half, there is a dot of white and in the other there is a dot of black. And it evens out."

"I have no clue what you're saying but sure," Niall lightly laughs.

"You won't lose me, Ni," Louis says, "I won't leave you like that. Promise you won't let me leave like that."

"That would just about be the easiest promise to make and the easiest promise to keep."

"Thanks for being my friend," Louis smiles, bringing Niall in for a hug.

"I wouldn't want to be anything else," Niall says quietly, hugging Louis' tightly, "That's all you need."

"What?"

"A friend to make sure you keep yourself from falling apart."

"Well, I'm glad it was you."

"Me too, bud, me too."

Louis pulls away, "Did you just call me bud?"

"You got a problem with that?" Niall smirks.

"Hell yes," Louis says standing up, "This friendship is over."

"Let's get you back to normal," Niall laughs, pulling Louis out the door.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Niall says quietly, guiding Louis downtown. They stop near a donut shop, right across from a bank.

"You certainly have a thing for banks," Louis comments. Niall shrugs before looking back at the bank expectantly. Louis stares at the bank as well, focusing his thought. 

Suddenly, there's a scream inside followed by a large explosion and the noise of gunfire. Louis can make out a few figures in the cloud of smoke. They wear all black and bandanas cover their faces. Guns are tightly clutched in each of their hands. A large black vans pulls up from around the corner and six other men jump out and enter the bank. 

There are several gunshots that follow the entrance and various screams. 

Niall stares at Louis in fear. Louis is too busy looking at the bank, a small grin making its way on its face. His eyes are turning a light shade of red but Niall doesn't notice. Police men are starting to arrive at the scene and surround the building. They bring out a megaphone and begin to speak.

"Please let go off the hostages. We can supply your needs."

"I want a million bucks!" a voice calls back, "And a plane. With a pilot, who is unarmed."

"Let go of the hostages first," a man speaks with a clear voice, free of any fear. 

The man is ignored as the more gunshots are heard. Someone is screaming but then it is silent. A man walks up to the front of the bank, revealing himself from the cloud of smoke. He pulls down the black bandana that covers his face. Without any warning, he pulls out a gun but doesn't aim at the officers. He instead aims at his own temple, pressing the tip into his trimmed dark brown hair. 

"Please, son, put the gun down," a woman says, "We don't have to do it this way."

In the distance, men are filing back into the van, filled sacks in their greedy hands. 

"You would like that wouldn't you?" the man laughs bitterly, "Don't you see, I have to do this! I'm trapped doing this! You think I like this? You think I want to rob banks for a living? I don't. But it is what it is, I guess."

"Just put the gun down."

"I can't," he responds, his voice weak and quiet. There's a loud bang and his body falls to the ground. It's silent. 

"Louis," Niall whispers, tapping his friend's hand. Louis doesn't move, his eyes glued to the scene. 

The black van swerves into the street and speeds away. Officers begin to shoot but it hits nothing. A few jump into their vehicles, chasing after the van while the others stay behind to sort out the mess. 

"Louis!" Niall yells, turning Louis away. He nearly screams when he sees Louis eyes are pure red, "Louis snap out of it!"

Louis is suddenly falling towards Niall. 

"Louis!"

"What happened?" Louis asks, shaking his head. Niall stares at him for a moment.

"You don't know what happened?" he gapes.

"No?"

"You- your eyes were red. I've never seen you so-so evil."

"What did I do?" Louis feels sick to his stomach. 

"Look out the window," Niall says sadly. Louis' heart stops when he sees the tragedy outside. There's smoke everywhere and people being dragged out of the destroyed bank. Some are moving and responding and others are not. 

"I did that?" Louis asks weakly. Niall doesn't respond and that's all Louis needs. He doesn't care that people can see him and that's it's the middle of the day. He gets out of the car and before Niall can ask him what he's doing, he's flying out of sight.

He stays out past dark, flying from building top to building top. He wants to scream, he wants to jump and fold his wings beneath him but he doesn't. It's sad that the only thing that is stopping him is the promise he made to Niall earlier that day and the thought of Harry finding him in such a state. 

Finally, he settles on a rooftop, letting his feet dangle of the edge. There is not an ounce of fear in him when he looks down and finds that he is over twenty stories above the ground. 

***

There's furious pounding on Harry's door. 

"Open up! Please!" a voice calls out, filled with worry and desperation. 

"What's wrong?" Harry groans opening the door. He's surprised to see Niall standing there, his eyes anxiously looking behind him.

"Shit, he's not here," Niall says to himself.

"Who? What are you looking for?"

"Louis."

"Why? Has something happened? Is he okay?"

"I don't know! He flew off because- because-" Niall stops. 

"Because what?" Harry questions. 

"You have to know he didn't mean for it to get so out of control! I've never seen him life that."

"What happened?"

"Did you hear about the suicide robbery?" 

"Yeah, it was the telly not too long ago."

"He caused it."

"Lou... my Lou?"

"It was so scary. I've never seen him so into it. It was almost like it wasn't him. His eyes turned into a deep red! I've known him my entire life and he's never had eyes colored anything but blue!"

"We have to look for him!'

"That's not the worst part..." Niall looks down, "Louis caused the suicide, and he made the guy do it in front of everyone. But just before the man committed, he ranted about how he was forced to do something he hates just so he could live..."

"You don't think..." Harry bites his lip.

"I would hope not, but I don't doubt him," Niall says truthfully, "I have no clue where he would go... I feel like a shitty best friend for saying that but he's been so out of it lately... I don't know what to do."

Harry feels guilt creep inside his veins when he realizes he wasn't the only one who would suffer from Louis' weakening. He had caused this, "I know where he would go."

"Where?" Niall's eyes widen.

"The rooftops."

"You take the South part of town and I'll search the North, yeah?" Niall suggest. Harry nods in agreement, slipping on a jacket. Zayn and Liam are out so Harry doesn't have to explain anything. Just as he begins to leave, Niall stops him, "I'm sorry we had to meet like this but I'm sure you're a great guy. You make Lou happy, so keep him that way. You mean a lot to him and don't take advantage of that."

"Never in your wildest dreams," Harry smiles lightly. Niall nods in approval before flying off into the night. Harry flies the other direction, thoroughly scanning each and every building top he comes across. He spends a few hours doing this and begins to lose hope when he makes out a small figure. They're sitting near the edge of the roof, feet dangling as they stare down at the concrete below them. 

"Louis?" Harry's voice calls. Louis hesitantly turns around, messily wiping away his tears. Harry's smile falls at the sight, "Lou, what's wrong?"

 

"I'm a horrible person," Louis cries, walking towards Harry's open arms. Harry holds him tightly, listening intently to Louis' voice, "I'm such a horrible person. I killed so many people. I harmed so many people. I've ruined so many lives. Someone killed themselves because of me." 

"I'm sure it wasn't-" Harry tries to say; he knows it's not what Louis wants to hear but it's the truth. According to Niall, something had happened and it had made Louis do something he wouldn't usually do.

"I made him hold the gun to his head and pull the trigger."

"Why?" Harry finally asks.

"I don't know what happened. I just felt so, so," Louis fumbles for the right word, "I felt so out of control." 

"Niall said your eyes turned red," Harry says quietly. 

"You met Niall?" Louis asks.

"Yeah, but it's not like I haven't before. You both helped me home that night, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Louis lightly smiles. 

"You're not horrible you know," Harry says rocking back and forth with Louis collected in his arms.

"I am."

"You're really not. It's good that you don't like it but that doesn't mean you should stop. You have to do it to keep yourself alive and that's all that I could ever want, okay? I'm not going to judge you on what you do. That's your own business."

"You really mean that?" Louis' voice is muffled by Harry's shoulder but Harry can still understand it clearly. 

"Of course I do," Harry presses a small kiss to Louis' thin pink lips, "Just like I mean it when I say I love you."

"You love me?" Louis asks, finally looking up to meet Harry's gaze. .

"I think I actually do," Harry grins. 

"I think-I think I kinda love you too."

"Kinda?" Harry laughs.

"Okay, maybe a lot," Louis blushes.

"Don't worry, babe," Harry says, pecking Louis' lips once more, "I love you a lot too." 

Louis smiles into Harry's neck, not pulling out from their hug. Harry doesn't either, "Come here tomorrow."

"Why?" Louis asks.

"Because, Mr. Tomlinson, I will be taking you out on our first date." 

Harry then pulls away from the hug, "You should probably call Niall. He's worried sick about where you are."

"Good idea," Louis says, reaching into his pocket. The second Louis says where is he is, Niall hangs up. Two minutes later, Niall is flying above the rooftop, his blue eyes spotting Louis.

"Louis!"

He dives down, nearly crashing to the floor and bringing Louis with him, "I'm glad you’re okay," Niall sighs, pulling Louis tightly into a hug, "Thought I almost lost you again."

This doesn't pass Harry's ears without a reaction but Harry stays silent. Louis smiles a bit, “I promised you didn't I?"

"Yeah but you're shitty at promises," Niall weakly laughs, "But you're here and that's all I care about, yeah?"

Harry couldn't help the slight bubbling sensation he felt in his stomach. He could feel himself grow angry but he couldn't understand over what? He didn't feel envy. He didn't want to feel envy. 

"Let's go home, yeah? You need some sleep and no alcohol for the rest of the month for you," Niall scolds. Louis laughs.

"Alright mother."

Harry watches them walk away, sadness filling his eyes. Had he been forgotten? Had Louis not meant it when he said he loved him? Perhaps there was something going on between the two demons... Just as Harry's mind begins to cloud with these thoughts, Louis stops walking. He turns around and runs towards Harry, wrapping his arms tightly around the boy.

"You didn't think I'd forget about you, did you?" Louis grins, pressing his lips quickly to Harry's. Harry's eyes widen at the contact but he still enjoys it.

"Not for a second," Harry whispers, "Now go home, rest. Tomorrow night will be fun."

"It better be! I have high expectations," Louis teases, beginning to walk towards Niall. Harry nods his head and just like that, the two demons are gone- disappearing into the 

night. 

*** 

"Well, that's new," Niall smirks, walking into their small apartment.

"What do you mean?" Louis plays dumb, grabbing himself a cup of water. He then grabs a banana from their fruit bowl and quietly unpeels it, eyes looking everywhere but Niall's face. 

"You know what I mean," Niall laughs, "You kissed him!"

"He's my soulmate," Louis shrugs, though inside he's bursting with joy and Niall knows this.

"Don't even try to play it cool, we all know inside you're a little teenage girl right now."

"Okay, you got me," Louis rolls his eyes, "But holy shit! I kissed him! I mean we've kissed once before but I kissed him! And he asked me out!"

"He did?" Niall raises and eyebrow. 

"Yeah, tomorrow night," Louis says dreamily.

"How are you feeling?" Niall asks out of the blue.

"I feel loads better," Louis answers, "I guess I can't run from what I am right?"

"Right," Niall nods, "But anyways, about this date!"

Hours pass and Louis is still talking about Harry while Niall continues to listen. They eventually pass out around four, soda bottles in their hands and bowls of popcorn in their laps. 

"Wake up," Niall is shaking Louis awake. Louis mumbles something and turns away, cuddling into his pillow. Niall chuckles slightly, "I guess you'll just stand Harry up." 

"What?" Louis darts up, his blue eyes wandering all over the room for a clock. He huffs when he finds out and sees it's only one in the afternoon, "Fuck you."

Niall's loud laugh fills the room, "It's going to take you a while to picks out what you're wearing, knowing you you'll take four hours."

"Will not," Louis huffs, "I'll take five."

"What time are you meeting him?"

"At like eight, when it's dark," Louis says, beginning to get up. He drags himself to his closet, "What to wear, what to wear."

"What about this," Niall pulls out a white tee shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans.

"Don't you think it's too casual?"

"Not if we switch out your ugly-ass Vans and you wear dress shoes or something."

"You wear Vans shoes too!"

"Yeah but I actually look good in them."

"Asshole."

"You love me."

"If it helps you sleep at night."

"Okay, so let's go get some new shoes!"

"How are you not gay?" Louis laughs.

"You don't know what I do in my free time, Tomlinson," Niall smirks.

"And I don't want to!" Louis yells, "Give me ten minutes to get ready."

"I'll give you five," Niall says, walking away. Louis throws on a tee shirt that has the Stone Roses' album cover printed on it. He wears on a pair of black skinny jeans and his checkered slip on vans. He runs into the messy bathroom, quickly brushing his teeth and throwing on a grey beanie to cover his messy hair. Louis makes it to the front door just as Niall's time goes off, "Definitely gay."

"What?" Louis laughs.

"No one could dress that fabulously without being gay," Niall teases.

"Takes one to know one," Louis shoots back, his blue eyes filled with happiness and amusement. 

"Can't argue with that one," Niall shrugs. 

"You're never going to let this go, are you?"

"What? That I have a gay best friend?" Niall asks. Louis nods his head, "Hell no. Never ever. I call getting tell your kids why they have two dads."

"I doubt Harry would-" Louis stops abruptly, continuing to walk at Niall's pace. Niall turns towards him but doesn't stop moving his feet. Louis meets his eyes, a small smile playing on his features, "I doubt Harry would trust you with explaining to his kids why there's two male parents." 

"Why the pause?"

"I never thought about my future, not with Harry anyways... Do you think we could actually work out? Like kids and stuff?" 

"I think you can do whatever the hell you want to and if that's with Harry, the more the merrier," Niall smiles, opening the door to a department store. They enter and head directly towards the section marked men's shoes. Both blue eyed boys scan the shelves, finding that every shoe they come across does not meet their standard and expectations. 

Finally, Louis finds a shoe that he falls in love with. It's a simple black color, glossy and smooth. There are no fancy designs and the laces are black as well. The price is below $50 which just about sells Louis.

"Niall!" 

"Did you find one?"

"Yeah, look," Louis holds up the shoe. Niall stares at it for a few seconds before nodding his head in approval.

"Classy," he comments, "I like it. It suits you."

"Thanks, I like them a lot too," Louis smiles. He calls over a sales assistant. Her smile is perky and much too fake for Louis' taste but he doesn't say anything.

"Hi there! What can I get you?" she grins, twisting her long brown hair around her finger. 

"Do you have this in a size nine?" Louis asks, holding up the shoe. She grabs the shoe from his hand and the box it came from.

"Be right back," she winks. Louis just notices her eyes are a dark brown that seem bottomless, "Don't go anywhere." 

"Someone fancies you," Niall coos, petting Louis' hair.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Louis says, squirming away from Niall's touch.

"I'm showing my affection for you," Niall rolls his eyes. Louis opens his mouth to say something but the employee is walking back them, a box tucked under her arm. 

"Here you go," she smiles, handing Louis the box. He doesn't even bother to try them on before thanking her and beginning to walk away, "Wait!"

"Yeah?" Louis asks, trying to avoid Niall's knowing look. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to maybe grab a coffee or something. Unless you had a girlfriend which I totally understand..." she fumbles trying to not sound nervous but to Louis, it's obvious. He bites his lip, finally looking to Niall from help. He shrugs before turning his attention to a random pair of shoes. 

"Look, I'm sure a great girl but..." Louis guiltily looks away.

"But I'm not your type," the girl pouts.

"No! That's not it," Louis scratches the back of his neck.

"Then what? If you have a girlfriend, that's cool..."

"I'm gay," Louis blurts.

"Oh. Oh my god. This is so embarrassing! Sorry!" she blushes furiously and runs off, busying herself with tiding up the racks of clothing. Niall stands a few feet, howling with laughter.

"Shut up, you idiot, don't be mean about it," Louis scolds, taking his box of shoes up the register, "Oh by the way, you're paying for these."

Niall's laughter suddenly stops, "I'm what?"

"Paying for these," Louis says slowly. 

"I am not."

"You promised last time, you'd buy me my next pair of shoes."

"When was this?"

"When we went to the club and you were so drunk you let some girl fart on you and you just thought it was some weird perfume?"

"I hate you, Tomlinson," Niall grumbles, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. Louis just grins as he leaves the store with his new shoes. 

It's finally night time. Louis is ready, after hours spent in his bedroom perfecting his look. He finally exits the bathroom and Niall's jaw nearly drops.

"Looking good, Mr. Tomlinson," Niall whistles, making Louis spin around. Louis blushes as he does so.

His hair is style up into a relaxed quiff, different from his usually feathery side swoop. The white tee shirt he wears is simple and goes well with the thin black blazer. His black trousers are rolled up to show off his new ankle tattoo and shoes. All in all, Louis thinks he looks pretty good. 

"Go get 'em tiger," Niall winks before turning his attention back to the TV. Louis laughs when he sees he's got two pizza boxes on the table and is dressed in sweats and nothing else. 

Louis goes up the roof of his building and then flies to find Harry. It doesn't take him very long to spot the curly haired boy and he lands perfectly. Harry looks up as his eyes widen.

"You look great," Harry says, taking a step towards Louis, "Glad to see you clean up nicely as we are going to a fancy place." 

"Could say the same about you," Louis smiles, taking in Harry's black blazer and dress shirt. Harry is dressed in complete black which causes Louis to giggle, "Don't angels believe in light and pureness?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Are you not wearing all black?" Louis teases.

"I like dark things," Harry whispers, his lips grazing against Louis' ear. Louis feels chill run down his spine and Harry pulls away satisfied, "Shall we get going then?"

"We shall," Louis grins, taking Harry's hand. 

They end up at a small restaurant, not too far from Harry's apartment. The place is not very filled, mostly women sat with their husbands, chatting over a glass of wine. There is a red carpet leading inside the restaurant. To the side is a woman with a binder in her hands. She stares expectantly at Louis and Harry.

"Do you have a reservation?" she asks, quickly assuming they don't. Her brown eyes hold annoyance she appears unimpressed. 

"Yes," Harry replies shortly, "Under Harry Styles."

"Ah yes!" she forces a smile, "Come this way please."

She leads the couple to a small table near the back of the restaurant, where it's private. She sits them down, "A waiter will take your orders shortly, and here are your menus." 

Harry takes the menu, his green eyes trained on Louis. Meanwhile, the older boy inspects the menu, biting his lip as he glances between the pasta section and the salads, "What are you getting?"

Quickly, Harry adverts his eyes back to the menu, pretending he hadn't been staring at Louis, "If I'm honest, none of this looks good."

"You've never been here?" Louis raises an eyebrow, a smile playing on his features. 

"Nope, doesn't really suit me," Harry shrugs. 

"C'mon," Louis says standing up. Harry's brow furrows when he sees Louis is putting on his coat.

"What? Where are we going?" Harry asks, looking behind Louis to see the waiter is walking out towards them. He wears a forced smile, it doesn't reach his green eyes and he almost looks annoyed.

"Where are you going?" the waiter asks, setting down an ice cold bottle of champagne. Harry looks at Louis, waiting for explanation. His mouth falls when he sees Louis is already near the front door of the restaurant. 

"Sorry!" Harry calls over his shoulder, running to be by Louis' side, "Lou! Louis! Wait up!"

"C'mon, Harry!" Louis laughs, skipping down the street, "Don't let me go any further without holding your hand!" Harry has no clue if Louis is drunk or high, but he doesn't care- it's worth it for Louis' smile. Besides, as cheesy as it sounds, Louis was high off of happiness- not that Harry would know. 

"Where are we going? Didn't you like the restaurant?" Harry's tone hurts a trace of hurt. Louis allows the curly haired angel to catch up to him, interlocking their hands together. 

"It was lovely," Louis smiles lightly, his blue eyes sparkling under the street light, "It just wasn't you, yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry agrees, "Take wherever you want."

Louis laughs, squeezing Harry's hand and continuing to run down the street. They finally arrive to a small 1920's themed diner. 

"A diner?"

"You like vintage things," Louis answers, opening the door for his date. Harry blushes as he enters, taking a look around the entire building.

The walls are a polished wooden dark brown and the windows were decorated with golden frames. On the left side is a bar, plush stools lined up against the high level table. To the right, booths fill the area, people happily chatting over burgers and fries. In the background, there's a small drumming beat and people chanting a birthday song. 

"Hello and welcome to Phillip's Diner!" the waitress grins, jotting down something on the paper in front of him. Harry giggles at the old fashioned uniform the woman wears. She wears a light pink dress, a white apron on top. On her dark brown hair rests a mini, folded paper hat. Her large name tag reads Charlie. 

"Hi," Louis says, fixing his shirt, "Can we get a table for two?"

"Sure thing, honey!" Charlie winks. Harry instantly grabs Louis' hands, his eyes glaring at the flirty waitress. Louis perks up, leaning over to whisper into Harry's ear.

"Don't worry, babe, she's like that to everyone," Louis pulls Harry along, following the waitress to an empty booth. She sets down to paper menus, printed to appear as an old newspaper. 

"I'll give you two a couple minutes to find something," Charlie says, walking to tend to another table. 

"I like this place," Harry comments, continuing to look around, "How'd you find it?"

"With Niall, the other day," Louis answers, "Kinda reminds me of the place where the..."

Harry knows not to ask Louis to continue and instead looks down at the menu, "I'm getting the grilled cheese."

"So am I!" Louis yells, "I got it last time and it tastes amazing."

"Yeah?"

"Yes!" 

By then, Charlie is back at their table, showing of her thick red-lipstick covered lips, "So, what I get you boys? Something to drink?"

"Shirley Temple soda," Louis grins like a child, "And he will have..."

"What you're having," Harry says fondly, eyes focused on Louis. He adores the way Louis bounces in his seat, filled with excitement. 

"Are you guys ready to order too? Or do you want more time?"

"Two orders of grilled cheese sandwiches please," Louis answers, "With a plate of fries."

"Just to fill in my gossip craving," Charlie smirks, "Are you two a couple?"

"Getting there, I hope," Harry squeaks, his cheeks turning red. 

"You guys are adorable!" the waitress squeals, sticking her pen into her thick, curly hair, "Where'd you meet?"

"At the library," Louis blurts.

"At the park," Harry says at the same time. The waitress gives them an odd look.

"Well that will remain a secret then..." she says beginning to retreat to the kitchen, where she drops off her orders and continues to take more. Harry and Louis look at each other, completely silent for a moment before both burst into fits of laughter. 

Soon enough, Charlie is back at their table, setting down their drinks and plates of food. She smiles at them, telling them to call her if she needs anything and then she's gone. 

"This is the most amazing thing I have ever eaten," Harry takes another bite of his sandwich, taking a sip of his soda at the same time. 

"Didn't I tell you?" Louis dips a fry into ketchup.

"You told me," Harry agrees.

"Just wait until you try their banana splits," Louis laughs.

"Let's order it now."

"You haven't even fin-"

"Doesn't matter," Harry cuts off, "Charlie!"

"Yes, darling?" Charlie walks over.

"Can we share a banana split? But instead of all the flavors, only chocolate."

"Sure thing! It'll be right out!"

"You're ridiculous," Louis shakes his head, though he's faintly smiling. 

"I like ice cream," is all Harry says before continuing to eat his sandwich. 

"Isn't this place great?"

"Not as great as you," Harry tries to wink but does it in a weird way which causes Louis to burst into another fit of laughter. 

"Smooth, Styles, smooth."

"This is better than that fancy restaurant," Harry comments, spooning yet another scoop of ice cream into his mouth. 

"I like you for you," Louis says, "Be yourself, that's who my boyfriend is. If it's someone who needs to get chocolate milk at three in the morning, then I will be in the parking lot with you. I don't care if it's too cold. And when you want to go on a date at a drive thru, then that's cool, alright? You be you and I'll be me."

"Boyfriend?" Harry looks down, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"I said all that, and that's all you got?" Louis rolls his eyes slightly chuckling, "And yes, boyfriend. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Of course it does, boyfriend," Harry grins, adding a quick wink. 

They walk home together, spending the night in a shared bed, asking any questions that come to mind. 

"Tell me what it's like," Harry says softly, allowing Louis to cuddle into him.

"When I make bad things happen?" Louis asks.

"Yeah," Harry bites his lip, hoping Louis would share with him.

"It's a bit strange," Louis begins, "It's like I'm watching myself do it but from a third person point of view. I watch everything happen around me and I know I'm the cause of it but nothing can stop me, including myself."

*** 

It's quiet. Louis finds he loves the silence. He finds he could get used to this.

The slight rise in Harry's chest whenever he took a breath brought Louis a sense of calm. He looked up to see Harry's beautiful, sleeping face. His long, dark brown eyes lashes were resting against his pale skin and his rose pink lips parted slightly as light snores fell from them. 

"G'morning," Harry mumbles, his eyes still closed. Louis smiles slightly at the sight. 

"That it is," Louis says, "I'm hungry, can you make something?"

"Why don't you?" Harry laughs, finally opening his eyes. 

"Because I'd most likely burn your house down," Louis smirks, "Now up you go!"

"I'm going, I'm going," Harry grins, falling out of the bed with a loud thud. He groans as he picks himself off the floor, "What're you in the mood for?"

"You," Louis whispers. 

"W-What?" Harry blushes.

"I said pancakes," Louis replies, fully well-knowing Harry had heard him before; "Don't you have roommates?"

"Yeah," Harry calls from the kitchen, "I don't really know where they are though..." 

"Oh well," Louis shrugs, "Looks like I have you all to myself."  
Louis jumps out of the bed, rushing to the kitchen to watch Harry cook. Harry shoots him a smile before turning to the cabinets, searching for anything edible. Louis only takes a few steps before he turns around, biting his lip, “Hey, me and Niall, we’re going to- we’re going out tonight, you should come. Only if you want to, though.”

“Are you sure you want me there?” Harry shyly asks, “I’ve never had alcohol before or done any of that so you’ll probably be nursing me all night…”

“It would be an honor,” Louis smiles.

“Okay then, yeah, I’d like to.”

“We’ll get you around 9 to head out, sound good?”

“Yeah, can’t wait,” Harry hums, continue to search the kitchen. 

"Zayn forgot to do the grocery shopping," Harry mumbles, closing the small wooden door.

"Let's get donuts!" Louis cheers. Harry laughs before agreeing.

"We should probably get dressed first," Harry chuckles. Louis blushes, glancing down to see he had stripped down to his boxers the night before. 

"That would probably be best," Louis says over his shoulder, running back the privacy of Harry's bedroom. Harry follows Louis and gets changed. Once they are both covered up, they head to a small donut parlor a few blocks away. 

They spend a few hours there, chatting and returning to order more donuts. Harry's sure they've ordered a dozen total while Louis would argue and say Harry's exaggerating and they only order six.

"Don't make me sound fat!" Louis laughs.

"You aren't even close," Harry winks. 

"So what do you want to do now?" Louis asks, sighing as he pushes open the front door so both can leave. He holds the door open for a mother and her son at which Harry smiles at.

"You're too nice to do what you do," Harry comments a few minutes later. Louis is silent. Harry continues, "It's a shame, really."

"I don't like to do it," Louis admits, "In fact, I hate it. But I have to do it. Or I'll lose my wings."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Louis nods, just as he opens his mouth to say something else, his phone vibrates in his pocket. He shoots Harry an apologetic look before answering, "Hello?"

"Shit, Lou," Niall's frantic voice comes through the phone, "Trevor found out you were the only one who caused the shooting, he thought I helped you... and he's looking for you. He wants a challenge and he's not going to leave you alone until you-"

Louis flinches as the yelp Niall makes before a new voice comes on the line, "Long time, no see, Tommo."

Instantly, Louis recognizes the voice as Trevor's. He nervously gulps, glancing at Harry before looking away, "What do you want?"

"I don't think you can do what you did. You were never anything special so why all the sudden can you cause an entire shooting? Why are you on my level?" 

"I-I don't know what to tell you," Louis hates the way he stutters and Trevor catches on.

"Are you scared, Tommo? Scared I'm going to beat you?" Trevor smirks.

"What did you do to Niall?" 

"He's alright, I mean, he'll live. I'll give you two weeks, two weeks to decide if you want to challenge me or not. That enough time?"

"I don't want to challenge you," Louis answers calmly. "Two weeks."

Trevor ends the call, leaving Louis with a panicked look. Harry notices the mood change and is quick to ask, "What's wrong?"

"I-I have to go," Louis answers, beginning to take of his coat. Harry grabs his arm.

"What happened, Lou?" 

"N-Niall," Louis tries to explain, "Trevor-Niall-"

"Deep breaths," Harry commands, clutching onto Louis' tightly, allowing the demon to place his weight on the angel. Once Louis appears calm again, Harry asks, "Now, what happened during the phone call?"

"Trevor's always hated me," Louis mutters, "He found out that I caused the shooting alone and he doesn't think I'm that powerful..."

"Powerful?" Harry asks, unable to mask the disgust he feels towards the statement. 

"He wants me to challenge him," Louis ignores Harry's remark, "In two weeks. But I don't want to! I don't want to hurt anyone just to prove I'm better than him!"

"Then don't," Harry replies.

"It's not that easy," Louis sighs.

"Why not?"

"Because if I don't do it, then everyone will think I'm weak. He's got something up his sleeve anyway. He would never leave it up to me to decide. He's already hurt Niall, which is why I have to go. I can't let anyone else get hurt because I can't accept what I am. I'm a demon, Harry. As much as you want to say I'm not, it's what I was born to be. I'm evil."

"Don't say that," Harry says quietly, "You may be a demon but I can tell you have the purest heart a demon can possible have. And I'm proud of you for that. You do what you need to do because at the end of the day, I love you for you. Not for what you do to survive."

"Thanks," Louis blushes, "But I really should get going." Harry bids Louis a goodbye before continuing his walk home. He passes by an elderly woman trying to carry her grocery bags up to her apartment. He quickly glances at a business man talking quickly at the phone. Suddenly, the man says a quick goodbye before ending his call.

"Here, let me help you with that," he smiles, grabbing the few bags the elderly woman held in her hands. Harry notices his eyes crinkle in the corners just the way Louis' did. Harry also sees the way the woman smiles and finds himself comparing it to the way Louis does. 

"Oh thank you!" the woman cheers, beginning to guide him towards her house. Harry shakes his head, scolding himself.

"You shouldn't be thinking of a demon, purest form of evil, when trying to make people do the right thing."

*** 

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Trevor smirks, stepping forward. Louis' words get caught in his throat and he can barely force himself to nod his head.

"Cat got your tongue?" Trevor presses, amused by Louis' silence.

"Could you be any more cliché?" Louis says confidently, hoping Trevor wouldn't see past his facade.

"Let's get down to it," Trevor rolls his eyes, "How'd you do it?"

"I don't know," Louis shrugs. Within the blink of an eye, Trevor has Louis pressed to the wall.

"I'm gonna ask again, how did you do it?"

"I-I don't know! It just happened!"

"Things like that don't just happen!"

Suddenly there's a loud bang, causing both boys to jump in surprise. Louis falls to the floor, out of Trevor's death grip.

"What was that?" Trevor demands, staring at Louis intently. He looks around himself hesitantly, as if he expects someone to jump at him in the shadows, “How do you not know what that was?”

“I don’t,” Louis says shakily, hoping Niall was safe.

“Niall’s fine,” Trevor responds, “But what’s this about a certain angel?”

“You leave him alone,” Louis hisses, clenching his fists. 

“Is that a threat?”

“I can turn it in to one.”

“Doubt it.”

“Don’t test me, Trevor.”

“So he means a lot to you?” Trevor raises an eyebrow.

“Why do you hate me so much, what have I done to you?’ Louis asks suddenly.

“You don’t remember, do you?”

Louis shakes his head, “Is there something to remember?”

“Nope,” Trevor grins, “See you next week Louis!”

“Next-“

Before Louis can say anything else, Trevor is flying off into the distance, leaving Louis with his unanswered questions. But he doesn’t allow himself to stand there any longer before he runs off to find Niall. 

He finds him locked in a random room of their small apartment, he doesn’t seem too harmed. 

“Wasn’t that bad,” Niall tries to reassure his worried friend, “I’m fine! Besides, we’re going out tonight, aren’t we?”

“I invited Harry,” Louis says, “Hopefully that’s okay?”

“Of course it is! I was wondering if I was going to have to invite him myself!”

*** 

“I’m sorry if I do anything stupid,” Harry whispers as they fly towards a local nightclub. 

“You’ll be fine,” Louis smiles. When they finally arrive, they are easily let inside.

“Lou! Ni!” a voice calls, “And someone new!”

“Hey Matty,” Niall grins, plopping into a seat. 

“And who are you?” Matty grins, drying an empty class. 

“Matty, this Harry, Harry this is Matty.”

“Hi,” Harry nervously smiles. 

“Well hello there.”

“Matty,” Louis warns.

“Sorry, sorry, didn’t realize this one was taken,” Louis blushes as Matty continues, “But it’s about time! I was worried you were going to let yourself die alone.”

“These are Harry’s first drop of alcohol so make it a good one.” 

“How is this remotely possible?” Matty’s jaw drops open as he rushes to the container of liquid. He begins to mix away before three drinks are sitting on the table. Louis and Niall quickly chug the drink whereas Harry hesitantly takes a few sips before setting it down. 

“You like it?” Louis asks, his voice loud enough to be heard over the volume of the music. Harry nods, taking another drink to show Louis how much he liked it. He ignores the burn in his throat, assuming it’s normal. At this, Louis smiles, “Next drink, we’ll share, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Harry winks, finally relaxing a bit. 

“Healy!” Louis calls out. The grungy man made his towards Louis, tossing a lock of messy black hair behind his ear. Harry instantly notices the man’s array of tattoos, something he had not taken note of prior. 

“You called, your majesty?” the bartender rolls his eyes. Louis grins. 

“Can we get the house drink?”

“Anything for Louis,” Matty bats his eyelashes. 

“Friendly reminder that he’s taken,” Harry grins, butting into the conversation.

“I like this one,” Matty laughs, mixing up drinks before finally placing the drink on the table. Louis picks it up, placing two straws into the mix before taking a sip.

“You never disappoint.”

“Slow down there, Lou, you have a date tonight. No drunky Lou,” Matty reminds the blue eyed boy. Harry knows he should feel slightly jealous by the way the bartender feels about Louis but he can’t help but feel endeared by the concerned look Matty wears. Harry takes a sip of the drink, making a satisfied groan. 

“You sure know you’re stuff.”

“I’m going to the bathroom, you’ll be alright?” Louis whispers, giving Harry a slight kiss on his lower jam. Harry shivers at the contact. 

“Yeah,” Harry smiles weakly, lifting his cup. 

“Good,” Louis smiles, making his way towards the bathroom. 

It’s been ten minutes and Harry has not seen Louis at all. Niall already left and is lost in the crowd of dancing people. He tries to pass off the worry as nerves from just being somewhere new but he knows it’s because Louis has been gone far too long. Quickly, he pushes himself off the stool and goes to search for Louis. Instead, he runs into a man with dark brown hair. He has chocolatey brown eyes and small nose, adorned with freckles. Immediately, Harry senses this man before him is a demon. He’s unsure of what to say but he didn’t have to think any longer because the other man already began to talk. 

“You must be Harry.”

“H-How did you know that?”

“Everyone knows about you, you’re the angel in love with the demon.”

“What-what’s it to you?”

“C’mon now, I can’t be that scary. I’m Trevor.”

“You mean-“

“Yes, yes, the one who hates Louis and the one Louis hates just as much.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Harry tries to push past the demon but he is stopped. 

“Look, I just wanted to tell you it won’t work.”

“It will.”

“Why would it? You’re a fucking angel! He’s a demon! In what universe does that work?”

Harry is silent, unable to conjure up any form of a valid argument for what Trevor has said. 

"You didn't actually think this would work did you?" Trevor laughs, "Oh you did! Oh my god! You actually thought- Oh my god!"

"It will," Harry says weakly, "Louis loves me."

"You really think Louis can love someone?"

"He said I was his soulmate."

"And you believed him? God, you really are a naive angel. There's no such thing as soulmates."

"He loves me," Harry repeats.

"You think he loves you? You think that when he's out partying, when he's out pressing his slimy lips to some random chick's, you think he's thinking of you?"

"I-" Harry feels tears blur his vision.

"Just thought I needed to clear that up for you," Trevor smirks before flying off into the night. Harry finds Louis drinking a large cup of beer, surrounded by random people who seem to be cheering him on as he slurps the entire thing. He laughs loudly as a girl presses her lips to his cheek, yelling for another bottle. Harry feels disgusted as he watches another man hand him a drink. Louis doesn’t say no before he yanks it away and drinks more. 

Maybe it wouldn’t work out after all. 

*** 

Louis wakes the next morning with a pounding headache. His body aches and he feels like he’s a hundred years old. Besides that, he’s cold and alone in bed. He looks to the nightstand where a note explaining Harry’s absence would be but he’s disappointed to find none. Glumly, he gets out bed, dragging himself downstairs to find Harry moodily stirring his tea. 

“Good morning,” Louis yawns. 

“Morning,” Harry replies, eyes never leaving his cup. Instantly, Louis senses something is wrong but he isn’t sure whether to ask or not. He does it anyways.

“What crawled up and died in your asshole?”

“Our relationship,” Harry laughs darkly.

“That’s not funny,” Louis says weakly. 

“It is because it’s true.”

“Are-are you breaking up with me?”

“Louis-“

“I thought we were doing okay! I thought this was going to work out…”

"It's time we stop kidding ourselves," Harry says bitterly, "This was never going to work out. You're a demon and I'm an angel."

"Don't call me that," Louis says weakly, trying to fight the tears that sting his blue eyes.

"Why not?" Harry spits, "It's what you are, a horrible demon."

“Fuck you.”

“I think it’s best if you leave.”

“So you’re just giving up?” Louis shouts, “This was nothing to you? You’re not even going to try?”

“Goodbye Louis,” Harry says coolly. As soon as the door slams shut behind Louis, Harry’s tears begin to fall. He can’t stop crying no matter how many times he tells himself he’s saving himself from future heartbreak. 

*** 

Louis enters their shared apartment quietly, ignoring Niall who is munching on cereal. Only Niall would wake up without a hangover. Niall calls out to him but Louis doesn’t even bother to stop. Instead he walks directly into his bedroom, locking the door behind himself. 

He collapses onto his bed, facing down into his pillow. Not even a minute passes before there’s a slight knock on his door, followed by a hesitant knock. 

“Lou?” Niall’s soft voice comes through, “Are you alright?”

“Am I bad a person?” Louis’ broken voice comes through the door. He lets a few tears fall, allowing them to cascade down his pale cheeks. He wants to punch himself for crying because what demon cries? 

“No! Of course you’re not,” Niall responds quickly, “Why? Did H-“

“Don’t,” Louis warns, his voice trembling. 

“Louis, please, I need you to come out. You-I don’t want you in there all alone.”

“I’ve been in this position before,” Louis says bitterly, “I’ll be fine.”

“You and I both know you won’t be.”

“I have to be, I promised you.”

“That shouldn’t be your reason,”

“Well it is, be happy I have one,” Louis snaps, “And maybe I didn’t want to be born! Maybe I didn’t want to be a fucking demon! Maybe I just want someone to love me! I want someone to look at me and think, damn I’m lucky. Not even my own mother liked me enough… And fuck, Ni, why can’t I just be normal? Why can’t I just live with the fact that I’m a demon? Why can’t I just be likable?”

“I like you.”

“I’m going to go visit Matty,” Louis sighs. Niall knows he won’t be leaving through the front door, instead through the front door. Louis will most likely go through the window and want to be left alone. Niall will give him an hour before he goes after him. 

When, slowly, an hour passes, Niall flies to the bar, grateful that the streets appear nearly empty. When he lands near the bar, he takes his time walking inside. As soon as he does, he’s met with a very worried Matty. Niall’s instantly find Louis, who is sat in the center of the bar, continuously ordering drinks. Matty tries to keep any drinks away from Louis, who isn’t very pleased with the situation. 

“Lou, I think that’s enough-“

“I can fucking order however much drinks I fucking want,” Louis slurs, lazily pointing his finger.

“C’mon Lou,” Niall says softly, sadness filling his eyes, “Let’s go home.”

“I don’t want to go home.” 

“C’mon now.”

“He’s home,” Louis whimpers, “I don’t have a home, mum.”

“Lou-“

“Please don’t hurt me,” Louis is so drunk, so so drunk, “I’ll get better, I promise.” 

“Bye Matty,” Niall sighs, waving as he carries Louis out the door. The two of them head home, Louis supporting most of his weight on Niall. When they arrive home, Louis plops onto the couch. Mere seconds later, he leans over, heaving out his insides. Niall wrinkles his nose as he watches Louis vomit. Louis then passes out, leaving Niall to clean the mess. 

The next morning, Louis gets up and makes himself breakfast. He says good morning to Niall and goes for a walk. He does the same the next morning. And the morning after that and it becomes a cycle. Niall knows Louis is constantly doing something to be distracted and it will only last for so long. He also knows better than to bring it up with Louis and instead lets Louis keep up with his façade. 

It’s a Tuesday evening when Louis finally cracks. 

He leaves in the early hours of the morning, doing his usual walk. But he doesn’t come after that. Niall doesn’t think much of it, figuring Louis found another distraction. He’s mistaken when Louis stumbles through the door, reeking of alcohol. 

“Lou?”

“Why doesn’t he love me?”

“Who?”

“Why doesn’t he care about me?” 

Louis falls to the floor, causing Niall to rush to his side as tears rush to his eyes, “Why are you doing this to yourself? Why, Lou? Please don’t do this to yourself. I can’t lose you, help me understand. What can I do to help you? Anything, just explain everything.”

“He-he,” Louis hiccups, “The memories came back, but he never did.” 

A few seconds pass before Louis’ eyes flutter shut and he’s suddenly calmly sleeping. Niall sighs sadly, grabbing a thin blanket and covering his friend before returning to putting away dinner dishes. He wonders what could possibly be going on in Louis’ mind, why Harry broke it off. Louis had never told Niall the full story, only that the pair was over. 

Again, just as before, Louis wakes the next morning and pretends everything is okay. Niall pretends he doesn’t hear the demon crying in his bedroom at night. 

***

The only sound Louis can hear is Niall’s light snoring in the room next to him. There seem to be no cars in the streets as the city outside the window is nothing but darkness. 

It’s been exactly three months, two weeks, 3 days since Harry left. But Louis hasn’t been counting. He hasn’t. Louis feels numb. He smiles when he’s with Niall, does what he has to but that’s it. When he’s alone, he simply lays in bed, tired from doing absolutely nothing. He doesn’t want to admit it, but Harry has become nothing but a memory. Louis remembers Harry’s angelic appearance but that’s it. It breaks Louis. He can’t remember Harry’s favorite tea, favorite movie he can’t even remember Harry’s voice. 

He’s doing it before he can even think straight. 

On the other end of the line, there’s deep breathing but no other sounds. Louis knows he’s there.

“It’s three in the morning,” Louis whispers, “And I can’t remember what your voice sounds like, what your favorite movie is and tea is or if you like chocolate milk.”

“Love Actually, I like coffee and chocolate is better with everything.”

Louis lets out a trembling breath before Harry hangs up. Somehow, Louis sleeps better that night that he has in a long, long time.

*** 

In the ending of the fifth month without Harry, Louis comes home drunk. Again. 

But something’s off, Niall can sense it immediately. He notices the way Louis can barely walk straight, how his smile is artificial. 

“Hey Niall,” Louis drags out the blonde boy’s name. Niall cringes as he help Louis slowly towards the couch, “Did-did you know that I’m- that I’m fucked up?”

“No, don’t say that-“

“It’s true!” Louis laughs. A few seconds later the laugh turns in a small cry.

“Lou-“

“Fuck, Niall! Am I the people that deserve to be hurt? Because that’s all that I seem to feel!” 

“No, Lou, you are on the very bottom of that list.”

“I’m a demon, a cold-hearted demon.”

“Louis, please-“

“I’ll fucking show him a cold-hearted demon.”

The alcohol seems to have miraculously disappeared from Louis’ system as he flies off into the night. Niall shouts for him and tries to keep up but at some point, loses Louis. Huffing, Niall decides there’s only one person who could help Louis. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Harry mumbles, unlocking the door. His face falls when he sees Niall.

“Look, I know I’m probably the last person you want to see but I really need your help.”

“Harry? Who’s at the doo-“Liam asks but comes to halt when he spots Niall. 

“What do you need help with?” Harry asks. 

“Louis, again,” Niall says sadly. 

“What’s wrong with Louis?” Zayn comes into the doorframe. 

“He’s-he’s- I’m so scared Harry, it’s worse than last time and I think- I think I could lose him. I can’t have that Harry. I promised myself I wouldn’t let it happen again.”

“What happened last time?” Harry asks, daring Niall to keep last time a secret. 

“He tried to kill himself,” Niall whispers. 

“What? Why?”

“In Heaven, everything is nice right? In Hell, everything is, well, hell and Louis just snapped. His mother was done with him, he was done with himself. You’ll have to ask him for more details… Anyways, right now I don’t know where he went or what he plans to do but I know it’s not going to be any good.”

“We’ll split up and look for him,” Liam says, already pushing everyone out of the door. The three angels and single demon agree to call if they see anything before they fly off into the night. Harry heads to the north side of town, green eyes carefully scanning the ground beneath him for a head of chestnut hair. His heart nearly stops when he sees a figure curled up in an alleyway. Slowly, Harry lowers himself to the street, “Louis?”

The figure doesn’t move; it appears to be asleep. 

“Louis?” Harry repeats, nearing the person. The figure looks up and Harry is disappointed to see it isn’t Louis. This man is old and tired, with dirty shadows marking his worn skin. Unlike Louis, his eyes are a flat brown, nearly lifeless. Harry feels pity for the man but he knows he can’t do anything right now, he’s go to look for Louis. 

It isn’t until nearly an hour later that Harry gets a call. He whips the phone out of his pocket, quickly answering, “Hello?”

“Harry I need you to come here right now,” Niall nearly shouts, reciting the street he was on. All Harry hears is Niall’s heavy breathing before, “Louis! No!”

The line goes dead after that.

*** 

“Louis!” Niall yells, trying to near the demon but the force field forming around Louis pushes him away. The men below the two continue to wrestle, taking turns shoving each other onto the concrete. Harry darts to the scene, watching in horror as Niall tries to coax Louis out, “They’re people, Louis, people! Think about their families and who they go home to at the end of the night!”

"But people deserve to be hurt, right?" Louis rhetorically says as he watches the two humans below him. He forces one to grab a beer bottle and smash it on the other's head. Louis’ eyes burn with tears but he wills himself not to cry, he will himself not to feel anything, “They deserve this, don’t they? Niall! Don’t they deserve this?”

“N-no,” Niall shakes his head, burying his face in his hands, “You’re better than this.”

“I’m nothing! I’m not better than anything, Horan! She said so, why would she lie?” Louis asks, red eyes still trained on the two human. Effortlessly, he causes one man to punch the other, followed by yet another blow to the head. Harry’s mouth falls open; he’s never seen Louis in this state. He knows if Louis doesn’t stop, he’ll have to hurt him. He’ll have to use his own powers to stop Louis; he could risk getting Louis’ wings taken away. 

"Louis!" Harry cries, "Please don't make me do this."

"You don't have to do anything," Louis spits. The other man suddenly pulls out a knife, aiming it towards the man who hit him on the head. The man with the knife calculates his next moves, eying the other human with concentration. 

"Louis!" Harry screams, furiously running a hand through his hair. 

"I'm just being the horrible demon that I am!" Louis says coldly. Harry knows this is his fault. He knows he caused this. He pushed Louis here. He broke Louis. 

“I was wrong, alright? I was so wrong!” Harry shouts, “I love you! I fucking love you so much I don’t what to do because we’re like fucking Romeo and Juliet and Trevor said we wouldn’t work out and that just stuck with me and then I saw you with that group, drinking your life away and I just- I cracked.”

Louis’ eyes dart towards Harry and then return to the spot where the fight continues. Harry can tell Louis is calming down because the men are at the point of passing out. The force field is also beginning to shrink, soon disappearing, “Why did you leave?”

“Because I thought I was saving myself from future heartbreak.”

“So you broke my heart instead?”

“I was stupid and broke both of ours.”

“You still love me?”

“I always have.”

“I just needed you. And I’ve never really needed anyone but Harry; you can’t leave me like that. I-I don’t think I could handle it.” 

“Never again, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Can you forgive me?”

“Not right now,” Louis shakes his head, “But yes, I will be able to. Just-just hold me right now.”  
Slowly, Louis floats down towards Harry. He lands perfectly in the larger boy’s arms, held tightly as he presses his head beneath Harry’s chin. Quietly, he speaks, “You cursed. You never cursed.”

“Guess you’re wearing off one me?” Harry lightly smiles.

“Louis!” Niall yells, wrapping his arms tightly around his best friend, “What were you thinking? Why would you even do that to me?”  
Harry sees the way Louis is shrinking into himself and doesn’t like it. Luckily, Niall feels the same way. His face instantly softens, “I’m sorry, Lou. I just- I got so worried and when  
I found you and your eyes were red again, I didn’t know what to do. And fuck, you were just so powerful then I didn’t know what to do.”

“I’m sorry too,” Louis says, “For everything, for getting drunk, for pushing you away…”

Niall only smiles before bringing Louis in for another hug. 

*** 

A month later, Harry finally asked Louis out. Again. 

Two months later the two shared their first kiss. (Yes, it took a while but Louis needed to be able to trust Harry, which Harry completely understood.)

Three months later, both boys lost their virginity. 

Four months later, Harry and Louis walked proudly down a street, holding hands. Louis told Harry about his past, his life in hell and the one before that. He felts loads better. 

Five months later, Harry and Louis moved into a small apartment. Harry could hold Louis in the late hours of the night, when he was crying over a nightmare or memories. 

Things weren’t perfect. Louis and Harry still argued, they had their moments where they thought of ending it but something always stopped them. If you asked Harry, he would cheesily say he fell in love with Louis all over again every day. Meanwhile, Louis would roll his eyes and say it was Harry’s dick that kept the relationship going. But when it came down to it, the demon loved the angel and the angel loved the demon and that was all that mattered.


End file.
